Stock market rebounds after GameStop frenzy, steep losses

Stocks bounced back Monday from a week of wild volatility and broad losses across the market.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a gain of nearly 230 points, rising 0.8 percent Monday. The S&P 500 rose 1.6 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 2.6 percent.

Shares of GameStop fell roughly 31 percent as the market opened to $225 per share, down from after opening at roughly $316. GameStop stock has risen by roughly 1,700 percent since the start of January thanks to a Reddit-organized short squeeze.

As GameStop and other Reddit-targeted stocks soared last week, the rest of the stock market fell amid concerns over the pace of vaccine distribution, the spread of new coronavirus variants and how each may affect the recovery from the coronavirus recession.

President Biden and Republican senators are set to meet Monday and to discuss a potential bipartisan deal on a coronavirus response and economic relief package. The group of GOP senators released Monday a $618 billion counteroffer to Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal, which had been widely criticized by Republicans.

Biden and congressional Democrats have held firm on the need for a much larger package and say that while they’re willing to strike a deal with Republicans, they will pass a bill with only Democratic support if necessary. 

“We intend to move forward. We hope that we can move forward with a bipartisan way with our Republican colleagues cooperating. But we need big, bold action and if we can’t move forward with them, we’ll have to move forward on our own. Getting the job done in a big bold way is the number one priority,” said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday.

Updated at 4:30 p.m.