Facebook Falls Nearly Flat in Market Debut

The much-hyped Facebook IPO failed to generate big profits on its opening day Friday, trading only slightly above its initial share price of $38, U.S. media reported.

Facebook shares began trading on Friday morning at around $42, a jump of about 11 percent from the final price set by the company on Thursday night.

But the stock quickly reversed course, dropping and rebounding through most of the afternoon.

Just 10 minutes before the Nasdaq market closed at 4 p.m. ET (12:00 GMT), the stock dipped below $38 per share, but then rose to its closing price of $38.23.

Nevertheless, Facebook set a record for trading volume for any IPO with more than 460 million shares traded, raising $16 billion in the third largest U.S. IPO ever and indicating a market value of as much as $104.2 billion. 

Facebook stock had been scheduled to start trading around 11 a.m. ET (07:00 GMT), but a technical issue delayed the opening by 30 minutes.

One of the fastest-growing companies in the tech industry, Facebook filed for its IPO in March.

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