US initial public offerings comfortably outperformed the main market indices in 2001, returning to levels of profitability last seen in the bull markets of the mid 1990s.

Jeff Hirschkorn, analyst at IPO Monitor, the US data firm that follows new equity issues, said: &quotWhile the major market averages continued to teeter on negative soil, stocks that made their Wall Street debut reflected gains of 15.7% over offering.&quot The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 7.1% last year, and the Nasdaq 21%.