GameStop soared 67.9% to $325 a share, 5 times its closing price a week ago Friday, January 22, and AMC gained 53.7%, both in heavy trade. AMC was one of the most active stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume on US exchanges was 16.83 billion shares, up from the 10.6 billion average in the 4th quarter.
"The unintended consequences of this potential volatility have markets on edge as we end the week," Arone said. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.03%, the S&P 500 lost 1.93%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2%. The 3 indexes suffered their biggest weekly fall since the end of October.
New variants of the novel coronavirus have prolonged lockdowns and delayed expectations of an economic rebound. French 10-year government bond yields, which move inversely to price, rose 4 basis points after France's gross domestic product contracted less than expected in the 4th quarter of 2020.