One foil to market gains was rising bond yields.
MARKETS FINISHED DOWN Thursday, with the three major U.S. indices posting losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled more than 3.5%.
One foil to market gains was rising bond yields. At one point Thursday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note topped 1.6%. That’s its highest level in more than a year and reflects investor concerns with inflation and outlook toward economic recovery.
The job market received mixed news Thursday. New initial jobless claims for regular state programs sunk sharply to 730,000 last week, their lowest level since late 2020. Enrollment in Pandemic Unemployment Assistance remains robust, however, and last week’s Texas storms may spur another flood of claims.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 560, or 1.8%, to finish at 31,402.
GameStop rises 19%. It’s deja vu all over again. Shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp. (ticker: GME) ascended 19% Thursday, building on its Wednesday rally when it soared more than 100%.
GameStop announced late Tuesday that chief financial officer Jim Bell would resign at the end of March. And it appears that traders and retail investors are back at it, pushing up the stock’s value. Other “Reddit stocks,” such as AMC Entertainment Holdings (AMC) and BlackBerry (BB), weren’t in on the action. They fell nearly 9% and 6.5%, respectively.
Twitter shares climb on user news. Twitter (TWTR) announced in a regulatory filing Thursday that it aims to reach at least 315 million daily active users by the fourth quarter of 2023 and at least double its annual revenue to $7.5 billion in 2023.
TWTR stock climbed nearly 4% on the day.
Moderna rises on earnings news. Pharmaceutical company Moderna (MRNA) rose 2.5% Thursday after the release of its fourth-quarter earnings.
Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $571 million, and the company anticipates making $18.4 billion in COVID-19 vaccine sales based on advance purchase agreements.