China South Locomotive soars on trading debut

Shares in China South Locomotive rose 58% on their debut in Shanghai to close at RMB3.45 (US$0.50), the Wall Street Journal reported. The company’s stock had earlier risen 77%, but were held back by a falling market. China South Locomotive earlier raised US$952 million through the sale of three billion A-shares priced at RMB2.18 (US$0.32), the top of its indicative range. The company is scheduled to begin trading in Hong Kong on Thursday, having earlier sold 1.6 billion shares to raise US$532.4 million there. The government is expected to invest heavily in rail over the next few years, as it seeks to increase the length of China’s rail network by a third by 2020.