(Reuters) – Shares of GameStop Corp rose 11% in early trading on Friday as retail investors raised shares in a renewed rally that could see its second-best week.
Stock market activity, which has once again topped the list in a social media-driven retail frenzy, suggested that investors were betting on higher prices or volatility. higher, or both.
GameStop shares touched $ 120.60 and were on the verge of nearly tripling this week in a equity market where falling bond prices have weakened general investor sentiment toward US equities. [.N] [MKTS/GLOB] [US/]
Holders of stock options could provide more support, as a large number of these weekly contracts expire on Friday.
The shares are still some distance from the $ 483 figure it hit in January, when individual investors who used Robinhood and other commercial apps raised their price, forcing many hedge funds to bet against them. the video game retailer to cover short positions.
Refinitiv data on options showed that retail investors have been buying call options out of deep money, which are options with contractual prices to buy well above the price of current shares.
Many of these option contracts will expire on February 26 and would be attractive gains for those betting on a further rise in the price of GameStop shares.
Call options that would be profitable for headlines if GameStop shares reached $ 200 and $ 800 this week have been particularly traded, the data showed.
Meanwhile, GameStop stock in Frankfurt dropped 21.3% to trade at 98.19 euros, in a move that saw its value converge almost completely with that of shares traded in the United States, which added almost one-fifth.
Other Reddit favorites such as movie operator AMC Entertainment, headphone maker Koss and marijuana company Sundial Growers fell between 4.4% and 13.6% in pre-bell trading.
Report by Aaron Saldanha in Bengaluru; Edited by Shinjini Ganguli and Anil D’Silva