Market edges up, Wall Street awaits Facebook debut

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose in early trading on Friday but were gearing up to close their worst week of the year, while Facebook's market debut could help lift battered investor sentiment.

The S&P has fallen 6.7 percent so far in May, and while volatility is expected to continue, some analysts were forecasting a near-term rebound as valuations become more attractive.

Investors are awaiting Facebook's debut after the world's No. 1 online social network raised about $16 billion in one of the biggest initial public offerings in U.S. history. Facebook priced its offering at $38 a share on Thursday, and shares are expected to begin trading under the FB symbol on Nasdaq at around 11 a.m. New York time.(1500 GMT).

The large weekly decline in equities has come amid uncertainty over a political crisis in Greece and whether that could trigger a default and possible exit from the euro zone.

Market participants were skittish even as a poll showed Greek voters are returning to the establishment parties that negotiated its bailout.

"I think this is a technical bounce and probably some values are beginning to emerge," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Cincinnati.

"There's a little bit of enthusiasm around the Facebook IPO that makes people feel good, but things haven't changed from yesterday."

Shares of companies in the online social media sphere were trading lower. LinkedIn fell 0.8 percent to $104.07, Zynga dropped 2.2 percent at $8.08 and Groupon fell 1.7 percent to $12.20.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 19.68 points, or 0.16 percent, to 12,462.17. The S&P 500 Index <.SPX> rose 4.47 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,309.33. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> edged up 0.66 point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,814.35.

The three indexes were on track to post their largest weekly losses since the last week of November.

The cost to insure Spanish government debt against default hit record highs Friday, a day after Moody's cut its ratings on 16 Spanish banks, heightening fears of contagion from the Greek political crisis.

Spanish government-run Bankia shares, up more than 25 percent on the day but still down 31 percent this month, led a rebound in Spanish banking stocks as traders closed short positions. U.S.-traded shares of Banco Santander and BBVA rose more than 4 percent each.

Shares of Foot Locker jumped 10 percent to $30.82 after the athletic footwear retailer posted higher-than-expected quarterly results.

(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos. Editing by Bernadette Baum, Dave Zimmerman)

WhatsAppFacebookTwitterLinkedinBeloudBluesky