(Bloomberg) -- Qutoutiao Inc. jumped by 128 percent in its first day of trading, the best debut on U.S. exchanges this year and a signal that investors may continue to embrace the flood of cross-border listings by Chinese technology firms.
The surge surpasses U.S. cybersecurity firm Zscaler Inc. to become the biggest first-day rise in 2018, excluding IPOs that raised less than $5 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Trading in the Shanghai-based entertainment platform was halted five times Friday throughout the session due to the sharp price movement, closing at $15.97. Qutoutiao announced this morning that its IPO had priced at just $7.00 -- the bottom of its offering range.
Zscaler rose 106 percent in its March 16 debut and is now trading 167 percent above its offering price. Alongside electric car-maker NIO Inc., which also climbed after listing in the U.S. this week, Qutoutiao may motivate more Chinese technology firms to pursue IPOs.
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