Stocks turned modestly lower on Friday, deleting some gains from earlier in the week as Biden’s stimulus efforts are challenged by GOP opposition, while the new, fast-spreading COVID-19 strain continues to dominate headlines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished Friday lower, dropping 0.6%, or 179 points, to finish at 30,996.
IBM (ticker: IBM) shares continued to flop Friday, ending the day nearly 10% down. The company reported a decline in revenue that disappointed Wall Street, despite quarterly earnings numbers that topped expectations. Intel ( INTC) also had a disappointing day, finishing with more than 9% loss. The company’s 7-nanometer chip manufacturing won’t be up and running until 2023, all but confirming that Intel has lost its lead in the semiconductor industry.
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More Bitcoin bonanza. With bitcoin still well off its all-time highs, some investors may be thinking about buying the dip. MicroStrategy ( MSTR), a business intelligence software solutions platform, jumped on the opportunity and bought 314 bitcoin, or $10 million worth of the cryptocurrency on Friday. This purchase will add to the more than 70,000 bitcoin MSTR holds, valued at more than $1 billion.
Don’t mess with the bulls. GameStop ( GME) stock soared Friday amid a squabble between short-seller, Citron Research, and bullish supporters of the gaming stock. A group of traders have been trying to artificially push GME shares higher while Citron tries to make the opposite case. Citron had a livestream scheduled Thursday to discuss its stance on why GME stock is a “sell” and why the stock was set to decline.
The short-seller ended up stopping the livestream, citing interruptions from Twitter hack attempts. GME stock rose 51% on Friday, and shares are now up 245% in 2021 alone through the end of the week.
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Stocks Fall Friday, GameStop Shares Surge originally appeared on usnews.com
