Stocks claw back lost ground as GameStop swings wildly

Stocks closed broadly higher on Wall Street on Thursday, helping the market recoup some of its losses a day after its biggest pullback in nearly three months.

Investors continued to closely watch the wild swings in GameStop, AMC and several other stocks, which have become targets for hordes of online investors who have sent them skyrocketing in recent days, taking on big hedge funds who have bet they will fall.

Several of those stocks fell sharply after Robinhood and other platforms restricted trading, causing an outcry among customers.

The S&P 500 rose 36.61 points, or 1%, to 3,787.38, lifting the benchmark index out of the red for the year. It had lost 2.6% a day earlier, its biggest drop since October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300.19 points, or 1%, to 30,603.36. The Nasdaq composite added 66.56 points, or 0.5%, to 13,337.16. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks slipped 2.09 points, or 0.1%, to 2,106.61.

Gamestop skidded 44.3% to close at $193.60, after swinging in a gigantic range between $112 and $483. At the beginning of the year, it was trading under $18 a share. Meanwhile, AMC Entertainment fell 56.6%, after rising nearly 600% this month alone.

Investors also continued to focus on company earnings. More than 100 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to tell investors this week how they fared during the last three months of 2020.

Apple fell 3.5% after posting a record quarterly profit, helped by big sales of iPhones and Apple Watches over the holidays.

Markets had been meandering near record highs since last week as investors weighed solid corporate earnings results against renewed COVID-19 worries.