Baidu shares fall flat on Hong Kong debut
Baidu shares fell flat on their debut in Hong Kong on Tuesday (March 23).
The online search giant saw its stock close level on the day.
That bucks the trend for big first-day gains for new listings.
Analysts say investors are growing wary of the fundraising frenzy in the city.
Hong Kong has seen over 31 billion dollars raised in share sales so far this year.
That's more than three times the amount this time last year.
One fund manager in the city told Reuters some companies were raising cash without any good reason.
Baidu chairman and CEO Robin Li was bullish though.
Hong Kong supports the development of innovation and Baidu has an innovation culture, he says, predicting the coming years will be a period when the best technology is rewarded.
The Hong Kong deal was certainly in demand - around 100 times oversubscribed by retail investors.
Li called the listing a 'homecoming', with Baidu shares already trading on New York's Nasdaq exchange.
But its tepid debut wasn't the only sign of investor wariness in Hong Kong.
Tuesday also saw video streaming site Bilibili raise a lower-than-expected 2.6 billion dollars in its secondary listing in the city.
