Shares of JD.com soar 17% in market debut

Qiangdong Liu, CEO of JD.com, raises his arms to celebrate the IPO for his company at the Nasdaq MarketSite, May 22, 2014 in New York. [Photo/IC]

Shares of JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company after Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, rose as much as 17.2 percent in their market debut on Thursday, valuing the company at about $30.43 billion.

JD.com's debut - the biggest listing of a Chinese company on a US exchange - is being closely watched for clues on how Wall Street will greet Alibaba's IPO later this year.

Alibaba's IPO is expected to be the biggest by a tech company in history.

JD.com's offering of American Depositary Shares raised $1.78 billion after being priced at $19 each, above the expected range of $16 to $18.

The company's shares touched a high of $22.26 after opening at $21.75 on the Nasdaq.

JD.com, which has yet to make a profit, is backed by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's Kingdom Holding Co.

BofA Merrill Lynch and UBS Investment Bank were the lead underwriters of the offering.

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