Beijing: China`s Tencent Holdings Ltd for the first time hit a market cap of more than $200 billion on Monday, making it more valuable than US tech firms like Amazon.com Inc, IBM Corp and Oracle Corp.
The country`s biggest social networking and online entertainment firm rose 5.38 percent to close at HK$170.50 ($22) in trading in Hong Kong, giving it a market valuation of $206 billion. This is higher than Oracle`s $190 billion, Amazon`s $178 billion and IBM`s $161 billion.
Tencent`s shares have rocketed 52 percent from the beginning of this year, bringing its valuation close to those of U.S. peer Facebook Inc`s $230 billion and Chinese arch rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd`s $210 billion.
The surge in the Shenzhen-based company`s share price comes as Hong Kong stocks hit fresh seven-year highs on Monday. China recently allowed mutual funds to buy stocks on the Hang Seng Index under the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect scheme, fuelling the jump in already-rising Tencent shares.
More money is expected to pour in as investors hunt for bargains.
New York-listed Alibaba, the world`s largest e-commerce firm, has seen its shares slide 19 percent year-to-date. This slump owes itself to investor excitement wearing off after the firm`s record-setting $25 billion IPO last September, and a lacklustre set of third-quarter earnings results.
Facebook is up five percent since the beginning of 2015.