Alibaba to Price at $68 Per Share, To Begin Trading Friday in New York

Alibaba is set to begin trading on the NYSE Friday after its IPO priced at $68 a share, the top of the expected range. The offering will raise $21.8 billion for the Chinese business-to-business Internet site founded by Jack Ma. The IPO, one of the largest ever, will give Alibaba a market valuation of roughly $168 billion. Investors who want to buy into China's rapidly growing Internet sector have been vying to get shares since executives kicked off the road show last week. Gil Luria, Alibaba Analyst at Wedbush Securities, says the shares could have been priced higher but underwriters want to make sure the price moves higher and the first day of trading goes smoothly. Luria says there is a lot of interest in the shres because 'there are not a lot of businesses that have this kind of growth, this fast or are this profitable.' Wedbush has an $80 a share near-term price target on Alibaba. TheStreet's Ruben Ramirez has details.