The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 600 points Wednesday amid concerns about Covid-19 vaccine distribution, while traders were also captivated by the frenzied trading in GameStop and other heavily-shorted stocks.
GameStop surged 135% and AMC Entertainment Holdings soared 300%, part of a battle between day traders and short sellers. Both stocks are up more than 700% in January. Until Wednesday, the broader market’s moves had been relatively muted in recent sessions, despite the wild swings in a handful of individual stocks.
The blue-chip index declined 634 points, or 2.1%, and the S&P 500 dropped 2.6%. The Nasdaq Composite also lost 2.6%. Delays in the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, coupled with lingering lockdown measures, marked a “double whammy” of bad news for investors, said Hani Redha, a portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments.
“I think the market expected that by now we would be talking about loosening, not tightening restrictions,” he said. “On the vaccine rollout, this is very problematic for the near term. It is very critical for shaping the growth bounce back, and these issues are just adding more delay to that.”
Trumps legacy
Wall St had already priced in record Q4 results for leading tech stocks and is blessed with too much cash set against limited investment opportunities. Biden's infrastructure plans should boost many non-tech assets.
good
gamestop buy at 330 YTD
That’s not what happened. Re-opening stocks like hotels and cruise lines outperformed
GameStop, the movie version:
Someone needs to tell them about NC_Governor NCHealthNews they are really getting it done. phanzooo
Thanks Joe
Oh yea, it fell only because of vaccine distribution concerns. My ass