Asia Markets Close Largely Up on Line Tokyo Debut
Shares of messaging app Line (LN) - Get Report soared close to 50% on Friday as it made its debut on the Tokyo Stock exchange.
This led to a positive end to the week for Asian markets. In Tokyo, the Nikkei225 gained 0.68% to close at 16,947.85 and the Topix was up 0.45% on Thursday's close to end the day at 1,317.10.
Line's shares surged 48% to open at ¥4,900 ($46.32) a share after being priced at ¥3,300.
On Thursday, the dual-listed company leaped 36% when it premiered on the New York Stock Exchange, becoming the biggest tech IPO of the year. The startup raised $1.26 billion.
"Line is presenting some excitement - excitement is not something that we should dismiss," said Jim Cramer, TheStreet's founder and manager of the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.
The dual-listing has been seen as a way to gain more exposure in regions of the world where the messaging app is little known, compared to its rival, Facebook (FB) - Get Report -owned WhatsApp.
Facebook is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells FB? Learn more now.
In Hong Kong, the Heng Seng closed up 0.26% at 21,616.13.
On mainland China, the CSI 300 hovered between modest gains and loses throughout the day, ending the day down 0.01% at 3,276.28.
Chinese economic growth held steady in the second quarter, defying expectations for a slight slowdown, as state investment bolstered output.
GDP grew by an annual 6.7%, as in the first quarter, higher than the 6.6% Bloomberg consensus.
The growth rate fell comfortably within China's annual GDP target of 6.5% to 7% after the world's No. 2 economy met its goal of "about 7%" growth last year with 6.9% economic expansion. However, analysts said a breakdown of the data showed that was down to the state stepping into the breach left by a waning private sector and structural issues remain unresolved.
S&P 500 mini futures were recently down 0.17% and Dow Jones Industrial mini futures were down 0.12%.
West Texas intermediate was recently down 1.25% to $45.11 and Brent Crude had fallen 1.35% to $46.73 a barrel.