The fintech group, which set the price tag for the Hong Kong leg of the listing at HK$80 ($10.32) per share, is selling 1.67 billion shares in the city to raise $17.24 billion, its filing showed.

Late on Monday, Ant opened order books on the Hong Kong float to institutional investors, many of which rushed to place orders, hoping for a sizeable allocation, the people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Ant did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Jane Merriman)