AIA Rises on First Day in Hong Kong After City's Biggest IPO

AIA Group Ltd.'s initial public offering, the biggest in Hong Kong's
history, propelled stock trading in the city to the second-busiest day
of the year.

AIA shares worth HK$49.39 billion ($6.4 billion) traded yesterday, a
record for a new listing on its debut in Hong Kong, according to data
compiled by Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. A total of HK$136.39
billion shares changed hands on the bourse, more than double the
average daily volume of HK$63 billion in the first nine months of the
year, the exchange said.

Eight of the year's ten most-active days were in October as companies
from Boer Power Holdings Ltd. and Mongolian Mining Corp. sold shares
for the first time, the exchange data showed. The heaviest trading day
this year was Oct. 14, when HK$139.07 billion of shares changed hands
as the Hang Seng Index climbed to its highest close since June 2008.

"On any day when you have an IPO, volumes go up to reflect that extra
trading," said Andrew Sullivan, a director of institutional sales
trading at OSK Securities Hong Kong Ltd. "AIA is a big deal, one of
the biggest IPOs ever."

AIA, the insurer sold by American International Group Inc., surged 17
percent in its first day of trading in Hong Kong yesterday. The
company said after the city's stock market closed that the
over-allotment option of the IPO was exercised in full, boosting the
amount of funds raised to $20.5 billion.

The depreciation of the Hong Kong dollar has made assets in the city
cheaper, luring foreign investors to equities, Sullivan said. The Hang
Seng Index rose 3.3 percent this month, its second monthly advance.

The currency is tied to the U.S. dollar, which sank to a 15-year low
versus the yen on Oct. 25 and to a more than eight- month low against
the euro on Oct. 15. The Hong Kong government has kept the city's
dollar at about HK$7.80 versus the greenback since 1983. Regulators
have allowed the currency to trade up to five cents either side of
that level since 2005.

"The weakening U.S. dollar makes Hong Kong much more attractive,"
Sullivan said. "Things become relatively cheap in Hong Kong because
the currency's fixed to the U.S. dollar."