Luxury sports carmaker Porsche raced onto the Frankfurt stock exchange with one of Europe's biggest listings in years, leveraging its brand power to defy global market turmoil.

Its shares rose to 86 euros ($81) at the start of trading, bettering the 82.50 euros price set by its parent company Volkswagen, and outperforming a weak Frankfurt market.

"This is a historic moment for Porsche," said the carmaker's chief Oliver Blume, who is also CEO of the wider German auto group Volkswagen.

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Even as markets worldwide suffer from surging inflation and mounting recession fears, the maker of the 911 sports car has pushed ahead with the bold flotation that gives Porsche a valuation of more than 76 billion euros.

It's Germany's biggest listing since Deutsche Telekom in 1996.

Shares in Porsche SE, Volkswagen's largest shareholder, which now also owns a blocking minority in the sportscar brand, were down by 10 percent as investors switched across. Volkswagen's shares were down 6.9 percent from Thursday's opening.

Traders said some investors who bought Volkswagen and Porsche SE as an initial public offering (IPO) play could be unwinding their positions and switching into Porsche AG, undermining Volkswagen's aim of bumping up its capitalization by showcasing the value of just one of its brands.

"Porsche was and is the pearl in the Volkswagen Group," said Chris-Oliver Schickentanz, chief investment officer at fund manager Capitell. "The IPO has now made it very, very transparent what value the market brings to Porsche."