Alibaba shares surge in their NY stock market debut

Alibaba's shares opened significantly above their initial price on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday, a sign of the excitement surrounding the Chinese internet giant.

Shares in the company made their debut in the US at $92.70 (£57), after being priced at $68 late on Thursday.

More than 100 million shares were traded in the minutes after the stock was launched - more than Twitter.

The NYSE was festooned with the orange and white logos of the company to herald its arrival on public markets.

The company raised nearly $21.8bn in its share sale, indicating strong investor appetite for China's e-commerce giant.

In opening at $92.70 per share, Alibaba is now valued at $227bn - making it significantly larger than Amazon and Facebook.

Investors are eager to get a piece of

Alibaba announces share sale details

China's biggest e-commerce firm Alibaba Group Holding says it expects to price its initial public offering (IPO) at between $60 and $66 per a share.

It has filed to sell up to $24.3bn (£15bn) in stock, in what will be the biggest technology listing in the US.

Facebook's IPO, which raised $16bn in 2012, was the previous biggest share sale for an internet company.

Alibaba accounts for 80% of all online retail sales in China. Its sites also include Taobao, Tmall, and AliExpress.

Facebook's IPO gave it a market value of more than $100bn. Alibaba's IPO would give it a market value of up to $162bn.

"From the very beginning our founders have aspired to