INVESTORS looking to hedge their bets or speculate on the direction of Alibaba Group’s IPO stock after its expected public sale of shares Friday will be able to trade its options in two weeks as U.S. options exchanges are expected to list contracts on the company.

    The Chinese e-commerce company’s options will be listed on CBOE Holdings Inc. and International Securities Exchange Holdings’ options exchanges Sept. 29, pending the company’s public sale of shares this week, the exchanges said late Tuesday.

    International Securities Exchange Holdings operates two options exchanges, ISE and ISE Gemini, which through August handled about 14 percent of equity and index options contracts in 2014, according to OCC, formerly the Options Clearing Corp.

    CBOE said Tuesday that it will be listing Alibaba options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the C2 Options Exchange once new options listing criteria are met.

    The two exchanges together so far account for nearly 29 percent of trading in U.S. stock and exchange options in 2014, per OCC data.

    On Monday, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. raised the price range on its initial public offering to US$66 to US$68, reflecting strong demand from investors for the year’s most anticipated debut and potentially the world’s largest-ever IPO.

    Contract specifications for Alibaba options will be determined when the new listing is certified by OCC prior to trading, ISE said.(SD-Agencies)