SenseTime shares up 150pc since late December IPO

Shares of artificial intelligence company SenseTime rose 20 percent after the opening bell on Tuesday to as much as HK$9.7 apiece, up 152 percent since the company priced its IPO at HK$3.85 in late December.

The gains come despite U.S. investors being unable to buy the stock after the U.S. Treasury added SenseTime to a list of "Chinese military-industrial complex companies" accusing it of having developed a facial recognition program to determine ethnicity, with a focus on identifying ethnic Uyghurs.

SenseTime raised US$740 million in its initial public offering (IPO), the fifth largest in Hong
Kong in 2021 according to Dealogic data.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong stocks kicked off Tuesday with gains following a record-breaking performance on Wall Street to start the year, but Omicron, inflation and supply chain problems were among the problems keeping sentiment in check.

The Hang Seng Index edged up 0.54 percent, or 125.87 points, to 23,400.62.

The Shanghai Composite Index ticked 0.26 percent, or 9.38 points, higher to 3,649.15, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China's second exchange added 0.45 percent, or 11.32 points, to 2,541.46.

(Reuters/AFP)