Stocks finished largely higher on Wednesday, with the Nasdaq finishing as the only major U.S. stock market index to post any losses, shedding a mere 0.04%.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both finished comfortably higher, however, with the Dow finishing at a fresh closing record and ending the day above the 32,000 level for the first time.
A couple of positive developments on the economic front helped spark the rally: first, the long-awaited $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill cleared the House, paving the way for President Joe Biden’s signature, which is expected Friday.
Secondly, inflation numbers for February clocked in at 0.4% — in line with expectations and a reassuring, low figure that quelled recent fears over the specter of rising inflation and higher rates.
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The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 464 points, or 1.5%, to finish at 32,297.
Roblox jumps in public debut. The popular gaming platform Roblox (ticker: RBLX) has become the latest hot private company to go public, doing so via a direct listing on Wednesday. Shares finished up more than 54% from their reference price of $45 a share, finishing at $69.50.
The video game platform allows users to play games made by other users, and sells a virtual currency that users can utilize to spruce up their digital avatars. It’s an extremely popular and fast-growing business, especially among kids. More than half of its users are under 13 years old.
Like many other hot tech names these days, Roblox isn’t yet profitable. That said, its revenue is growing rapidly, jumping 82% in 2020 to $923.9 million.
More GameStop chaos. GameStop ( GME), which, entering Wednesday, had jumped more than 100% in just a week’s time and finished Tuesday at $246.90 a share, closed Wednesday’s trading day at $265, up another 7%.
That, however, was bittersweet news for GME shareholders, who had briefly seen the stock hit $348.50 in intraday trading before plunging 40% in a matter of minutes.
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$1.9 Trillion Stimulus Passed; Roblox Stock IPO originally appeared on usnews.com
