Testing time ahead for Alibaba shares

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Hangzhou-based e-commerce giant listed in New York last year, has confirmed that the 180-day lockup period of about 437 million of its ordinary shares will end on Wednesday, suggesting there could be a flood of its stock onto the market.

Alibaba's record-breaking IPO raised $25 billion on Sept 19, 2014.

Of the shares that will no longer be subject to the lockup, around 100 million will remain subject to Alibaba's employee trading restrictions until after the announcement in May 2015 of its earnings results, according to a statement released by the company.