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SCMP Reporter

Alibaba.com has attracted more than HK$450 billion in subscriptions from Hong Kong retail investors for the company's HK$11.6 billion initial public offering, sources close to the deal said yesterday.
Alibaba broke the record that shoe retailer Belle International Holdings set in May when it attracted HK$445 billion in funds.
The persistent flow of funds into the stock market prompted the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to buy HK$775 million worth of US dollars for the second time this week to ease the pressure on the value of the Hong Kong dollar.
The mainland's biggest e-commerce portal is selling 858 million shares at a price range of HK$12 to HK$13.50 a share to raise up to HK$11.6 billion.
The  offering ended at noon yesterday, with the company receiving more than  HK$450 billion  worth of orders for the 128 million shares offered to Hong Kong investors.
This represented an oversubscription of 250 times for shares in the Hong Kong offer, sources said. It is likely that the shares will be priced at the top end of the range.
For the institutional tranche, Alibaba received more than US$180 billion in orders as of Thursday night, sources said.
The price of the share  will be set today and  will debut on November 6. The company raised the price range  by almost 13 per cent after receiving overwhelming response from institutional investors.
Meanwhile,  the HKMA sold HK$775 million at lunch time yesterday when the local currency hit HK$7.75 to the US dollar again, the upper limit of the trading band.
Under the linked exchange rate system, the de facto central bank is committed to keeping the local currency within HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 to the US dollar. It sold a similar amount of Hong Kong dollars on Tuesday.
The aggregate balance of the banking system will increase to HK$2.852 billion next Tuesday when the transaction is settled.
Amy Yip Yok-tak, the chief executive at DBS Bank (Hong Kong), said the move by the HKMA was due to the inflow of liquidity fuelled by  upcoming initial share sales, which pushed up the Hong Kong dollar.
She said the HKMA's action would help to ease the interbank rate. 'But I think the short-term interbank rate will remain firm in the near term due to the initial public offerings' financing demands,' she added.
Citi said  that it expected further interventions by the HKMA, as the demand for Hong Kong dollars to invest in the Hong Kong stock market should remain large in the near term.
The Hong Kong dollar slightly eased to HK$7.751 to the US dollar after the action taken by the HKMA, but it rebounded to HK$7.7508 in the late session. Medium and long-term rates fell but short-term interest rates remained firm.
Margaret Leung Ko May-yee, HSBC's global co-head of commercial banking, also expected the interbank rate could fall between initial public offerings, but not to a large extent because there was no sign of hot money flowing out.
She said it was difficult for banks to decide whether to follow the expected move of a US interest rate cut next week.
'There's no room for interest rate cuts when the one-month interbank rate remains at the 4.7 per cent level, and when there's also some inflation concerns,' she added.
Huge response
Shares for the offer are oversubscribed 250 times
The total amount the mainland's biggest e-commerce portal is expected to raise, in HK$b: $11.6b



Alibaba.com IPO soaks  up HK$450b retail funds