** China's BingEx's was last trading 15% higher, shrugging off a sluggish start to its Nasdaq debut

** FLX, which brands its courier delivery services as FlashEx, sold 4 mln American depositary shares $(ADS.AU)$ in its U.S. IPO, priced at $16.50 each, to raise $66 mln

** Stock opened for trading flat at $16.50 per ADS, before rising as high as $21.95

** FLX is the first big China-based co to successfully list in the U.S., since EV maker Zeekr debuted on the NYSE in May

** IPO bodes well for the broader market, which had been depressed for almost two years due to higher-for-longer interest rates and turmoil in the stock markets

** Analysts expect appetite for riskier investments will continue to improve, boosting the IPO market meaningfully in 2025

** Deutsche Bank Securities, CICC and CLSA are the lead underwriters of BingEx's offering

** Meanwhile, Republican Party's top bank, Chain Bridge

, drops 2% at the open in its NYSE debut; CBNA, which pulled off a relatively rare IPO from the banking industry, last down 3.5%

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru)

((Manya.Saini@thomsonreuters.com))