Stocks Plunge in Worst Day of February, But GameStop Surge Returns: CNBC After Hours

Stocks Plunge in Worst Day of February, But GameStop Surge Returns: CNBC After Hours

CNBC.com's Pippa Stevens brings you the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, Bob Pisani explains GameStop's sudden resurgence of strength, by pointing out that there is no real reason the stock is suddenly soaring again. Plus, Brian Sullivan is on the ground in Texas with some answers on how the state's power grid failed during last week's severe winter storm.

Dow falls 560 points amid surging yields, Nasdaq sheds 3.5% in worst sell-off since October

U.S. stocks fell sharply Thursday as an outsized surge in bond yields spooked investors, who rushed to dump risk assets, especially high-flying technology names.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 559.85 points, or 1.8%, to 31,402.01, slipping from a record high. The S&P 500 lost 2.5% to 3,829.34 in its worst day since Jan. 27. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 3.5% to 13,119.43, posting its biggest sell-off since Oct. 28. Alphabet, Facebook, and Apple all fell more than 3%, while Tesla dropped 8.1%. Microsoft shed 2%.

The major averages tumbled in a rapid fashion as the 10-year Treasury yield soared as high as 1.6% in a sudden move that some described as a "flash" spike. The yield later settled back down to around 1.52%, its highest level since February 2020.

GameStop shares gain more than 18%, halted multiple times as Reddit favorites swing wildly

Shares of GameStop jumped again on Thursday but finished well off session highs as stocks featured in January's short squeeze saw another jolt of volatility.

The stock closed with a gain of 18.7% for the day at just under $109 per share after being halted multiple times during the session. The stock nearly hit $185 per share at its high water mark of the day.

The volatile day came after investors piled into the bricks-and-mortar video game retailer on Wednesday following the reported ousting of Chief Financial Officer Jim Bell, sending the stock soaring 103.9% before trading was halted.

Black women bear the brunt of financial pain from pandemic, CNBC + Acorns survey finds

Almost one-third, or 29%, of U.S. adults are counting on another round of government relief to get by, and another 24% say they need it but doubt it will happen, a new CNBC + Acorns Invest in You survey conducted by SurveyMonkey found.

People of color are more likely to be relying on the relief, especially Black women. Half of Black Americans and 40% of Hispanics said they were counting on it, while 57% of Black women said the same. Additionally, 24% of Blacks and Hispanics need it but don't think it will come to fruition.

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