Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, made a muted launch on the Hong Kong stock market, where its shares began trading on Monday.
The launch came just three days after the US kicked off a major trade war with China.
Shares dipped in early trading, hitting HK$16 in mid-morning trade, down nearly 6% from the HK$17 they had been sold at.
But by the noon lunch break, the price had recovered to HK$16.98 per share.
At the end of the first day, the shares closed at HK$16.8, a loss of 1.2%, on trading volume of US$979mil (HK$7.68bil).
The company’s lackluster trading start came despite the offer being scaled back and the shares priced at the lower end of their indicated range.
Though still the second largest IPO this year, raising a net US$3.1bil (HK$24bil), the company has a market capitalisation of some US$48bil (HK$376bil).
That is less than half the US$100bil figure which had been touted earlier this year.
Analysts criticized the company and its bankers for being over ambitious, with some suggesting that the company does not have the qualities to justify a price to earnings valuation four times higher than Apple.
Others likened it to cheap and cheerful Japanese retail chain Muji, rather than a tech pioneer.
The company is one of the world’s largest smart phone makers, and additionally has growing ambitions in media and entertainment, and in online retailing.
But other commentators were more forgiving of the company, and instead pointed to treacherous conditions in Asian stock markets.
On Friday, the much discussed trade war became real, with the US and China each imposing tariffs on US$34bil of each other’s imported goods.
And even after a 2% rise on Monday, the Shanghai Composite Index shows mainland Chinese shares in a bear market, with prices down more than 20% down from their peak in March. - Reuters
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