Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Fall in Facebook share price

Updated at 10:07 am on 22 May 2012

The shares have fallen well below the initial float price of $US38.

Facebook's share price dropped sharply on its second day of trading as a public company.

The shares have fallen well below the initial float price of $US38.

The BBC reports Facebook slid 12% immediately at the opening bell on Monday and were still 11% down at $US33.92 an hour later.

Facebook's flotation on Friday at $US38 per share was delayed by technical problems on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Trading was delayed by 30 minutes due to late order cancellations, and the shares closed on Friday at $$38.23, after reaching $US45.

More than 566 million shares in the company changed hands, a record volume for US market debuts.

The offer price valued the site at $US104 billion.

Some analysts suggest the share price would have fallen on Friday had it not been for underwriters stepping in to buy the stock.

Strong demand in the run-up to the flotation had led the company to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale.

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