Wall Street Today | TikTok usage surpassed Instagram among kids aged 12 to 17

Asian stocks looked set for a mixed start Friday as Chinese technology shares struggle, contrasting with a rally in their U.S. counterparts that propelled Wall Street equities to a record high.

The IPO is the the 14th this year in the U.S. by food and beverage companies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Nine of those are trading below their offering price after listing at valuations that proved optimistic amid labor shortages, rising prices and a rocky earnings season for the sector.

U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga in Miami said that the plaintiffs failed to show there was any agreement between Citadel Securities and Robinhood to act in concert. In a Wednesday ruling, she dismissed the case without prejudice, giving the investor group until Dec. 20 to possibly file an amended complaint.

Macy's announcement came as it posted another quarter of strong sales growth Thursday, with plans to launch a new online marketplace through its website for third-party sellers. Shares rose 21%.

Shares in the owner of Indian mobile-payments company Paytm fell sharply on their first day of trading, after it sold about $2.5 billion of stock in the country's largest initial public offering.

Stock in One97 Communications Ltd. dropped 27% from its IPO price of 2,150 rupees, the equivalent of $28.95, to close Thursday at 1,564 rupees.

"We heard from Gen Z youth that they find TikTok to be funnier and more positive versus other social media platforms," said Mike Proulx, an analyst at Forrester.

With higher inflation and more modest stock gains likely looming ahead in the new year, Anastasia Amoroso, chief investment strategist at iCapital Network, says investors should be looking at 2021's standout asset class: cryptocurrencies.

Amoroso noted that cryptocurrencies have risen this year by "something like 200%," and said that Bitcoin has "classic inflation-hedging characteristics," including its limited supply alongside growing demand.