Baidu records largest first-day gain in five years

Chinese search engine Baidu set a record on the Nasdaq stock market at the end of last week.

On the first day of public trading, the firm's shares skyrocketed to $125 from an initial valuation of $27. The 360 per cent increase is the biggest for a stock on its first trading day on Nasdaq in the past five years.

The jump in the company's valuation was caused largely by its associations with Google. Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the search giant was interested in acquiring its Chinese competitor, which undoubtedly attracted investors to Baidu's IPO. Google already owns a 2.6 per cent stake in the company.

Full article: vnunet.com