(Reuters) - Twitter Inc shares were indicated at between US$42 and US$46, in a sign they would rocket higher in opening trade as investors bet on potential growth at the money-losing social media company.

If the shares start trading at US$42, that would amount to a 62 per cent jump from the US$26 initial public offering price set on Wednesday, making it the biggest in a series of huge opening day "pops".

The microblogging network priced its 70 million shares at above the targeted range of US$23 to US$25, which had been raised once before. The initial public offering (IPO) values Twitter at US$14.1 billion (S$17.5 billion), with the potential to reach US$14.4 billion if underwriters exercise an overallotment option.

If the full overallotment is exercised, as expected, Twitter could raise US$2.1 billion, making it the second largest Internet offering in the United States behind Facebook Inc's US$16 billion IPO last year and ahead of Google Inc's 2004 IPO, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Twitter boasts 230 million global users, including heads of state and celebrities, but it lost US$65 million in its most recent quarter and questions remained about long-term prospects.

It also lacks the ubiquity of Facebook or the "stickiness" factor that keeps people checking the No. 1 social network on a daily basis.

A Reuters-Ipsos poll last month showed that 36 per cent of people who signed up for a Twitter account say they do not use it.