FACEBOOK’S shares continued to fall on New York’s Nasdaq after millions of shares hit the market at the end of a lock-up period following flotation.
The social media business saw its stock fall on Thursday as its early backers were allowed to join the market, and continued to fresh lows yesterday, closing the day at $19.05, down $0.82 or 4.13 per cent. The firm, which has nearly one billion users but is struggling to translate that into revenue growth, has lost about half its value in the three months since its much-hyped IPO in May.
But in Europe markets reached their highest point in more than a year after Germany made clear its commitment to keeping alive the euro. That boosted financial stocks and helped London’s FTSE 100 Index to more mosdest gains – up 17.9 points or 0.3 per cent at 5,852.4.
Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG Index, said: “The expectation of central bank action in September has been the driving force behind the two-week rally, although rally is probably too strong a word for the gentle stroll higher that we have seen.”
Barclays was the top tier’s biggest riser with a 4 per cent gain – up 6.7p to 192.9p. Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC were up 4.3p to 231.6p and 5.2p to 570p respectively. And Lloyds added 1.2p at 34.2p despite being downgraded to “hold” by Investec, which cut its price target to 36p.
NEW YORK: Wall Street stocks edged higher last night, with the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index hitting a new four-year peak and a new all-time high for Apple shares boosting the market.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 25.09 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 13,275.20 while the broader S&P 500 was up 2.65 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 1,418.16 by the close.