There were mixed fortunes for market newcomers China Shipping Container Lines (CSCL) and Tencent Holdings on Wednesday, indicating that investors are adopting a selective approach towards China IPOs.
Shares in container shipper CSCL, which raised US$985 million from a share offering, were up a meagre 0.8 percent in early trade.
However, instant messaging services firm Tencent jumped 23 percent after investors, drawn by its dominance of China's instant messaging market, piled into the company's US$199 million IPO.
Tencent, part-owned by South African media group Naspers, is China's largest instant service messaging firm.
Tencent was also supported by institutional buying, with fund managers allocated fewer shares after half of the IPO shares went to retail buyers on strong demand, said Hung.
Shares in CSCL, the world's tenth-largest container line, were trading at HK$3.20 shortly after the market opened, compared with their offer price of HK$3.175 each. Some traders had expected the stock to gain five to 10 percent on their debut.
Some analysts said CSCL's shares had been priced at the top end. Citigroup said CSCL shares, which have a price-to-book multiple of 1.45 times the IPO price, were expensive compared with their peers.