Square stock jumps 50% after IPO puts low price on stock

Shares of Square, a mobile credit card processor founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, jumped 50per cent in their first day of trading on U.S. markets.

The big jump followed a very low IPO pricing for the company of $9 a share, after institutional investors failed to buy in.

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The surge reflect interest from retail investors in the startup, which makes a a tiny, plastic device that turns any smartphone into a credit card reader.

Square's market is small and medium-sized businesses, but its growth strategy depends on selling those customers on future services such as payroll processing. Square has a Canadian office in Kitchener-Waterloo and has been offered here since 2012.

They're losing their taste for tech-related start-ups, as companies such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Yelp have failed to produce stock windfalls after recent listings.

Square was not the only startup launching an IPO today. Match, the dating services company that runs Tinder, priced its shares at $12, the low end of its expected range.

On Thursday, Match stock rose by $2.76 to $14.76 US at the close.