US stocks stage partial rebound from rout

NEW  YORK – Wall Street stocks staged a partial rebound yesterday from the prior session’s rout following mixed economic data as shares of GameStop and others continued to gyrate.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished up 1.0% at 30,603.36.
The broad-based S&P 500 also won 1.0% to 3,787.38, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.5% to 13,337.16.
Major indices had shed more than 2% on Wednesday due in part to worries about the coronavirus and lofty valuations. 
Investors had also been rattled by massive jumps in GameStop, AMC Entertainment and others, but the market applauded new restrictions on these trades by TD Ameritrade and Robinhood, analysts said.
Wednesday’s big fall set the stage for bargain-hunting yesterday.  
“The restrictions put in place regarding the retail traders by the platforms... (have) helped to calm the market down,” said Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial. 
“The worry in the market was, if this continues at this pace, it could cause even more damage to the overall market.”
Both GameStop and AMC fell sharply.
The Commerce Department said the US economy shrunk by 3.5% last year, with the growth of 4.0% annualised in the fourth quarter moderating from the torrid paces of the second and third quarters. 
Other data showed an unexpectedly big drop in new jobless claims.
A plethora of large companies, including Apple, McDonald’s, Comcast and Tesla, reported results. Most topped expectations, but shares of these companies were mixed.
Among those releasing results were American Airlines, which jumped 9.3% after reporting a smaller-than-expected loss. 
Like GameStop and others, American has been targeted by short-sellers and was mentioned in a Reddit forum that has been instrumental in this week's market upheaval. – AFP, January 29, 2021