June is busiest month this year for US companies listing shares

Twenty companies have floated during the period on American exchanges

The initial public offering from Fitbit, the maker of wearable fitness tracking devices, arrived in the busiest month of the year so far for US equity market listings by companies.

Twenty companies have floated during June on US exchanges, marking the busiest month since November, according to data provider S&P Capital IQ.

June also ranks as the top month of the year for money raised, with IPOs raking in $4.74 billion (Dh17 billion). The level of activity was modestly above May, when 19 companies went public, but is double the level in March.

Richard Peterson, director at S&P Capital IQ, said the recent uptick in activity may partly reflect bankers looking to complete deals and “get league table credit as well as book fees” cent, but that was half of the 124 per cent gain seen in Shake Shack shares, when they started trading in January.

Nike led the benchmark S&P500 on Friday, rising 4 per cent to $109.89, after the athletic apparel and footwear maker reported better than expected results in its latest quarter as it benefits from the trend of wearing activewear outside the gym.

Nike’s profits jumped to $865 million, or 98 cents a share, from $698 million, or 78 cents a share, in the year ago period. Sales rose nearly 5 per cent to $7.8 billion. That eclipsed Wall Street forecasts of 84 cents a share and sales of $7.7 billion.

Micron Technology was the worst performing stock on the S&P500, after the chipmaker said weakness in the PC market weighed on its fiscal thirdquarter results.

US stocks fluctuated as markets await the latest news on Greece ahead of the June 30 deadline. The S&P500 gained 0.2 per cent to 2,106.76, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.6 per cent to 17,990,66. The Nasdaq Composite was little changed at 5,109.05.