Meituan IPO whets investors' appetite

Meituan-Dianping, the Tencent-backed online food review and delivery company, got off to a reasonable start on its trading debut in Hong Kong, delivering some respite to a local stock market that is showing signs of strain and losing its faith in a clutch of mega tech floats.

The trading debut makes the mainland company the fourth-largest tech firm in terms of market capitalization, next only to the tech triumvirate of Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, collectively known as "BAT".

Meituan-Dianping shares opened high at HK$72.90 ($9.29) on Thursday, more than 5.65 percent above its offering price of HK$69 and extending the performance on Wednesday when the company's shares ended grey market trading 3.62 percent higher at HK$71.50.