Alibaba Shares Expected To Start Trading 23% Higher Than Offering Price

Shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Holdings Ltd. were expected to jump at least 23 percent when they start trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Reuters reported that, shortly after the opening bell Friday, orders for Alibaba shares, which will trade under ticker symbol BABA, were coming in at $84 to $87 a share, 23 percent higher than the $68 IPO price. CNBC reported that some sellers are seeing prices as high as $90.

The NYSE said Alibaba's underwriting banks -- which include Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley -- are expected to exercise their option to increase their allotment of shares by 15 percent, which would put the deal over $25 billion, the largest in history.

Yahoo shares also jumped 4 percent on the news. Yahoo is selling 121.7 million shares of Alibaba, creating an after-tax windfall of $6 billion.