Facebook share trading debut approaches

Facebook shares will start trading in New York later in one of the most high-profile share sales of recent years.

Founder Mark Zuckerberg officially opened the day’s trading on the Nasdaq exchange, although trading in Facebook shares will not start until later.

He appeared via video link from a celebration at the social network’s headquarters in California.

The shares are priced at $38 each, valuing the eight-year-old social network site at $104bn (£66bn).

Strong demand has led Facebook to increase both the price and the number of shares available for sale.

The Nasdaq exchange, which is where technology giants such as Google and Apple are traded, opened at 0930 local time (1430 BST), with buying and selling of Facebook shares set to begin about an hour later.

This valuation means the social network site is worth about the same as internet shopping giant Amazon, and more than the value of stalwarts such as Disney.

The initial public offering (IPO) of the shares is the third-largest in US history, after the financial giant Visa and General Motors.

Facebook’s owners are releasing just under a fifth of the company’s total shares, about 421 million, which could raise about $18bn.