Shares of VMware, the software company, defied market nervousness to soar 76 per cent on their first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday as investors rushed to the most hotly anticipated initial public offering in the technology sector since Google.

VMware’s shares rose well above their $29-a-share offer price, the high end of expectations, briefly trading as high as $55 a share before falling back to end the day at $51.