NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Yahoo yhoo surged 3.9% Friday to close at the highest level since Jan. 10, 2006. The shares have now climbed 8.3% since Sept. 5, when reports of the timing and pricing of Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba IPO surfaced. Yahoo, which owns a more than 20% stake in Alibaba, is expected to sell 140 million of the Alibaba shares it owns in the IPO next week, which is anticipated to be the biggest ever for the U.S. market. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Youssef Squali said in a note this week that Yahoo should end up with about $8.8 billion in proceeds from the sale of Alibaba shares. Yahoo's stock has now gained 6% year to date, while the S&P 500 has advanced 7.4%.