Shares hit new low of $19.01 in early trading

Facebook shares sank 4.3 per cent yesterday to a new low, a day after early investors got the green light to sell for the first time.

More than 270 million shares owned by early investors became available after a three-month curb on sales ended. That is more than half the 421 million shares sold in its initial public offering on May 18th.

Facebook shares hit a low of $19.01 yesterday morning, and were down almost exactly 50 per cent from the $38 offering price at its IPO. Nearly 62 million shares traded hands in the first two hours of trading yesterday.

More than 1.4 billion additional shares held by early investors and Facebook employees are set to become available for trading by year’s end. – (Reuters)