Line may be year's largest tech IPO

TOKYO • Line Corp has hiked the price of its initial public offering to raise as much as 116 billion yen (S$1.5 billion), citing strong demand and market conditions.

The operator of Japan's most popular messaging service raised the price range for shares to 2,900 yen to 3,300 yen from an earlier target of 2,700 yen to 3,200 yen. Line is offering 35 million shares in its debut. Including a so-called greenshoe option that allows it to raise the number of shares sold, Line may wind up raising as much as 132.8 billion yen.

Line is expected to attract individual investors and is aiming to list this month in New York and Tokyo in what could be the largest technology IPO of 2016.

BLOOMBERG

PBOC stance 'neither too loose nor too tight'

BEIJING • China's central bank said yesterday that it would use various policy tools to maintain appropriate liquidity and reasonable growth in credit and social financing.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would continue to implement a prudent monetary policy and keep its stance "neither too loose nor too tight". The central bank said this in a statement after the second-quarter monetary policy committee meeting.

A flurry of data from China in the coming weeks is expected to show continued weakness in trade and investment, sluggish industrial output and another drop in foreign reserves, reinforcing views that Beijing will roll out more economic support measures soon.

REUTERS