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| - US stocks ended the session solidly positive on Monday, with traders relaxed after the social media-fueled buying onslaught seen last week appeared to lose its steam. GameStop closed 30.8 percent lower, following a week in which its share price skyrocketed as traders, organized over Reddit and other platforms, bought the stock en masse to punish hedge funds and other wealthy investors who bet its price would fall. Analysts said traders decided to hunt for bargains as they digest positive manufacturing data and an expected economic revival later in the year as more and more people become vaccinated against Covid-19. "Uneasiness surrounding the rise in Covid-19 new cases and variants persists, but is being countered by recent further progress on the vaccine (and) treatment fronts," investment bank Charles Schwab said in an analysis. The benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.8 percent at 30,212.37 while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent to 3,773.77. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index was the biggest gainer, climbing 2.6 percent to 13,403.39. Early in the session, the Institute for Supply Management reported its manufacturing index at 58.7 percent in January, less than expected but nonetheless in expansionary territory after the sector experienced a sharp contraction as the pandemic arrived. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office also released a forecast predicting economic growth in the United States would return to its pre-pandemic level in the middle of this year. The coordinated moves by retail investors using trading platforms like Robinhood rattled markets last week and sent indices into the red, but those efforts have grown less effective, with movie theater chain AMC Entertainment, another target, trading only 0.3 percent higher at the close. There was however evidence of their continued impact, with silver futures rising 8.1 percent after the campaign shifted its focus to the precious metal. cs/jm
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