Shares of Nymex Holdings more than double after IPO

The New York Mercantile Exchange’s stock more than doubled in value in its first day of public trading Friday as investors eagerly snapped up the commodity futures exchange’s initial public offering.

Nymex Holdings Inc. closed at $132.99 a share after being sold at a higher-than-expected $59 late Thursday. The stock opened at $120 on Friday morning on the New York Stock Exchange and rose as high as $152.

The company, whose market is famous for its raucous “open outcry” mode of trading energy and gold futures, sold 6.5 million shares, raising $293.1 million after underwriting discounts and commissions but before expenses. At $132.99, it has a market value of $11.59 billion.

Nymex Chairman Richard Schaeffer appeared surprised by the high demand. “We’ve got to run this place efficiently so we can warrant the high price that people paid for us,” he said.

The debut of Nymex shares, which list under the ticker symbol NMX, had been much anticipated by investors who witnessed the stellar IPOs of rival exchanges in recent years.

“The share prices of these exchanges have been way beyond what anybody thought they’d be,” said Scott Wren of A.G. Edwards & Sons. “Public ownership of exchanges is such a new thing and has worked so well that it will just draw money in.”