The market for US initial public offerings should look a lot more like the years prior to the pandemic-fueled boom, according to the head of the New York Stock Exchange.
First-time share sales in the US could raise about $50 billion this year, NYSE Group President Lynn Martin said at the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York on Tuesday. US regulators should start publishing companies’ IPO filings in the coming weeks after a regulatory quiet period that allows firms to get their full-year financial reports audited, Martin said.
“We’re still gearing up for an active second quarter from an IPO perspective which, depending on how those deals go, we think will inform the way the rest of the year will progress,” Martin said in a Bloomberg TV interview earlier Tuesday.
Volatility triggered selloffs across global equity markets as the S&P 500 erased its $3.4 trillion post-election rally, with jitters surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs pushing investors into less risky assets. The benchmark has slumped 3.5% to start the week, the worst two-day slide since August, as the VIX Index jumped above 25 for the first time since mid-December.
A prolonged slump would dent hopes of a busier 2025 for IPOs, given that new companies without track records are typically seen as among the market’s riskiest equities. Still, Martin wasn’t fazed by the volatility this year.
