Facebook shares have dipped below $30 for the first time since their flotation, to a new low of $29.27.

The shares were launched at $38 less than two weeks ago during its high-profile flotation, which valued the firm at more than $100bn.

Since then, Facebook’s shares have lost almost a quarter of their value.

Russia’s biggest social network, VKontakte, has now postponed its stock market launch, fearing a repeat of Facebook’s problems.

“The IPO of FB [Facebook] destroyed the faith of many private investors in social networks,” said chief executive Pavel Durov in a message posted on Twitter.

One reason for the fall in Facebook shares since its Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the beginning of options trading, which allows investors to gamble on the future direction of Facebook shares.

It appears that most are betting they will head lower.

“Facebook’s stock market debut is already going down as one of the most troubled of recent years,” says BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.

REPRINT: BBC. UK