U.S. Stocks Drop a Sixth Straight Day as Facebook Fails to Surge
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U.S. stocks dropped for a sixth day, the longest slump since November for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as Facebook Inc.’s record initial public offering failed to boost confidence in a market rattled by Europe’s debt crisis.
Facebook rose 0.6 percent, paring a rally of 18 percent. Underwriters bought the stock to keep it from falling below the IPO price, people with knowledge of the matter said. The pricing of the first transaction took a half hour longer than Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.’s forecast. Zynga Inc. tumbled 13 percent to a record low after a volatility circuit breaker prompted two trading halts that lasted at least 10 times longer than usual.