USA Indices Closed with an Increase

US indices closed with an increase. Indices, which experienced a sharp decline, managed to be positive at the end of the day.

At the end of the day, the Dow Jones index gained approximately 300 points and reached 30.603 points by increasing 0.99 percent. While the S&P 500 index increased by 0.91 percent to 3,784.72 points, the Nasdaq index rose to 13,337.16 points with an increase of 0.50 percent. Indices in the US stock market, which witnessed the sharp declines yesterday, progressed positively today. After the extreme volatility and sharp rises in some share prices over the past two weeks, concerns in the markets dropped when these stock transactions were restricted today. Several small investors in the US have invested large sums of money in low-value stocks that they consider hedge funds to make a profit by taking short positions. The shares of GameStop, rose to over 1000 percent within two weeks, and even a noticeable increase was recorded in the shares of phone manufacturers Nokia and BlackBerry and movie chain AMC. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stating that they are monitoring the extraordinary activity in the market, has restricted the purchase of shares of Robinhood and Interactive Brokers, GameStop and similar companies from stock trading platforms. After this restriction, the shares of GameStop decreased by approximately 50 percent. Developments regarding the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic and the support package expected to be given within the scope of combating the epidemic also stayed on the focus of the markets. US Senate Majority Leader Democrat Chuck Schumer said they will begin work next week to pass the support package. In addition, according to data announced today in the USA, the country's economy grew by 4 percent in the last quarter of 2020, in line with market expectations. However, the US economy shrank by 3.5 percent due to the adverse effects of the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) epidemic in 2020 and performed its worst since 1946. The number of applicants for unemployment benefits decreased by 67 thousand people for the first time in the country in the week ending January 23 compared to the previous week and decreased to 847 thousand. Balance sheet reports of US companies for the last quarter of 2020 continued to affect the markets.