Facebook shares close lower on Friday, company establishes fintech company in Geneva, develops cryptocurrency of its own, reports say

According to reports in the media, Facebook Inc (FB) has set up a financial technology company in Geneva, Switzerland, as it focuses on payments and blockchain.

Handelszeitung reported that the social media company could be developing a cryptocurrency of its own, which would be tied to the US Dollar. This could render it much more stable in comparison with Bitcoin.

Facebook shares closed lower for the eighth time in the past eleven trading sessions on NASDAQ on Friday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since May 13th. The stock went down 0.90% ($1.69) to $185.30, after touching an intraday low at $184.28, or a price level not seen since May 15th ($180.02).

Shares of Facebook Inc have risen 41.35% so far in 2019 compared with a 14.07% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Facebook Inc’s stock went down 25.71%, thus, it underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

Libra Networks was established by Facebook in Geneva a few weeks ago, Handelszeitung reported, while also adding that Libra is the company’s internal project name for the cryptocurrency.

Libra Networks is owned by Ireland’s Facebook Global Holdings II, while its focus will be on developing the software and hardware for currency-related functions such as blockchain, payments, analytics, big data and identity management.

In February, the New York Times had reported that a 50-member team was working on Facebook’s digital currency intended to be used across the social network as well as on its WhatsApp service.

According to CNN Money, the 40 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Facebook Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $225.00, with a high estimate of $275.00 and a low estimate of $120.00. The median estimate represents a 21.42% upside compared to the closing price of $185.30 on May 17th.

The same media also reported that 34 out of 47 surveyed investment analysts had rated Facebook Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 7 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Weekly Pivot Levels

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Facebook Inc (FB) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $184.04
R1 – $189.88
R2 – $194.47
R3 – $200.31
R4 – $206.16

S1 – $179.45
S2 – $173.61
S3 – $169.02
S4 – $164.44