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| - European and US stocks rebounded Thursday following sharp falls the previous day thanks to encouraging data, while unusual lurches in a handful of stocks continued. "Stocks have largely recouped earlier losses as the fear that previously ran through the markets has dissipated," said market analyst David Madden at CMC Markets UK. Both Frankfurt and Paris ended the day in positive territory, while London finished in the red as the pound rose against the dollar. Wall Street stocks were sharply higher in late morning trading, with the Dow up 1.8 percent. "This morning the mood was fearful due to concerns that some hedge funds were frantically closing out positions in a bid to free up cash to meet margin calls requirements on short positions that have gone horribly wrong for them," he added. Markets had been unnerved by huge swings in certain stocks amid a David versus Goliath battle by investors over struggling video game retailer GameStop. The US group saw its stock surge about 1,000 percent in two weeks after a group of amateur investors active on online forum Reddit banded together to fight the Wall Street funds that had previously bet on its price going lower. But GameStop shares were down more than 40 percent in late morning trading in New York, as were the shares in several other firms which had also seen jumps in recent days. Craig Erlam at Oanda pointed to a drop in new claims for US unemployment benefits to 847,000 last week as lifting sentiment. "The drop in jobless claims was better than forecasts and may be driving a little optimism that the first quarter won't be as bad as feared, given the intense restrictions," he said. Meanwhile data showed that the US economy contracted by 3.5 percent overall last year, the worst performance since 1946. "US growth data proves the need for another bout of stimulus," said Josh Mahony at IG. US stock prices have surged in recent months to hit records as monetary and fiscal stimulus have kept markets awash in cash. The US quarter-on-quarter growth rate slowed to 1.0 percent in the final three months of the year, following a record 7.5 percent rebound in the third quarter. "US growth in the fourth quarter provided a timely reminder to lawmakers of the importance of providing ongoing support, with the recovery losing traction," he added. Asian equities extended losses after Wall Street shed more than two percent overnight, following a gloomy Federal Reserve warning over the virus-plagued US economy. New York - Dow: UP 1.8 percent at 30,842.80 points EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.6 percent at 3,555.96 London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.6 percent at 6,526.15 (close) Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 0.3 percent at 13,665.93 (close) Paris - CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 5,510.52 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.5 percent at 28,197.42 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: DOWN 2.6 percent at 28,550.77 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 1.9 percent at 3,505.18 (close) Euro/dollar: UP at $1.2126 from $1.2111 at 2200 GMT Dollar/yen: UP at 104.32 yen from 104.11 yen Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3722 from $1.3687 Euro/pound: DOWN at 88.35 pence from 88.48 pence West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $52.64 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: FLAT at $57.81 per barrel burs-rl/pvh
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