By Benjamin Pimentel, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Yahoo Inc. climbed
early Monday after Alibaba, the Chinese tech powerhouse, of which
the Web portal owns a huge stake, said it has begun the process for
a much-awaited initial public offering.
Yahoo (YHOO) was up 3% in early trades. On Sunday, Alibaba said
in a statement that the company "has decided to commence the
process of an initial public offering in the United States."
"This will make us a more global company and enhance the
company's transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to
pursue our long-term vision and ideals," the statement
continued.
Alibaba also added that "should circumstances permit in the
future, we will be constructive toward extending our public status
in the China capital market in order to share our growth with the
people of China."
The remark appeared to be in reference to reports that Alibaba
had considered going public in Hong Kong, but that the plan got
derailed by a dispute over Alibaba's plan for some sort of
dual-class structure for the shares meant to enable the company's
founders to maintain some control.
"We respect the viewpoints and policies of Hong Kong and will
continue to pay close attention to and support the process of
innovation and development of Hong Kong," Alibaba's statement
said.
Yahoo's gains set the pace for a tech sector rally as the Nasdaq
Composite Index (RIXF) added 46 points to 4,290. The Morgan Stanley
High Tech 35 Index (MSH) and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index
(SOX) were each up more than 1%.
Google Inc rose 1.3%(GOOG), while Facebook Inc. (FB) was up
0.5%, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) climbed 1.5% and Apple Inc. (AAPL)
gained 1%.
On the downside, LinkedIn (LNKD) slipped nearly 1%, while
Juniper Networks (JNPR) dropped 1.4%.
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