IPOS had a fair showing Wednesday, despite the slew of worries plaguing investors lately.
Real estate website Zillow.com's shares rose about 80 percent in their market debut, even though the company has never posted an annual profit. Earlier in the trading day, the shares had doubled. It set its initial public offering price at $20.
Shares of headphone-maker Skullcandy also surged in early trading, but ended the session with a gain of half a percent.
The Park City, Utah, company, which says its brand offerings "symbolize youth and rebellion," raised $188.8 million in an initial public offering that was larger than expected, signaling strong investor interest.
Skullcandy headphones are sold in electronics, sporting goods and mobile phone stores, as well as by mass retailers such as Target and Best Buy. Its revenue has grown from $9.1 million in 2006 to $160.6 million last year, lifted by the increasing popularity of devices that play music on the go, such as Apple Inc.'s iPods and iPhones.
Zillow is the latest in a stream of Internet IPOs to hit the market that investors are bidding up to try to find the next big thing. Zillow, founded in 2004, provides online listings for more than 100 million homes for sale and rent.
Stocks overall ended the day flat to slightly lower, as investors let worries about debt limit negotiations in Washington and Europe's debt crisis overshadow good earnings news from companies such as Apple and Coca-Cola.