Asia’s stock listing aspirants will likely face a less generous market following a first-half sales boom, as bubbly valuations and nervousness about U.S. monetary policy make investors more cautious.
Firms in Asia have raised $82 billion through initial public offerings so far this year, the most ever for a first half, and beating the previous record of $63 billion seen during a comparable period in 2010, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The performance is part of a global trend, with new listings having hit a record of almost $351 billion since 2021 began, as ultra-low interest rates and ample liquidity pushed yield-hungry investors into riskier assets.
With bankers in Asia still staring at a busy deals pipeline for the second half, they may find it hard to repeat the success seen earlier in the year. That’s due to growing concerns that rising inflation will prompt the U.S. and other major central banks to unwind some of the stimulus that laid the foundation for the remarkable global stock rally in the past year.
