Air China ends unchanged in debut
21 August 2006
Air China's A shares ended Friday unchanged from their initial offering price of US$0.35, a weak debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange attributed to uncertain earning outlooks due to the high price of oil, the Wall Street Journal reported. Expectations were that the stock would rise 5%-10% on its first day of trading. The stock opened lower than its IPO price, just slightly below the US$0.35 mark. The weak performance was a departure from the 50%-80% gains other companies have posted in first-day trading in mainland markets this year. Air China, one of the largest IPOs of 2006, may exert some downward pressure on the market. The Shanghai Composite Index is down 8.5% since July 11 but still up 38% since the beginning of the year.
