GLOBAL MARKETS: Silver jumps, stocks slide as social trading roils market

GLOBAL MARKETS: Silver jumps, stocks slide as social trading roils market

NEW YORK/LONDON: Silver prices jumped and global equity markets sank on Friday amid a growing battle on Wall Street between hedge funds and retail investors, while a dispute over COVID-19 vaccine supply in Europe cooled risk appetite.

Disappointing vaccine data from Johnson & Johnson also hurt sentiment but the assault of retail traders using online forums to force hedge funds to reverse short positions “” bets that stocks will fall “” kept the market on edge.

Shares of GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. surged again after Robinhood and Interactive Brokers said they planned to ease restrictions after imposing buying halts on Thursday.

GameStop soared 67.9 percent to $325 a share, five times its closing price a week ago Friday, and AMC gained 53.7 percent, both in heavy trade. AMC was one of the most active stocks on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume on US exchanges was 16.83 billion shares, up from the 10.6 billion average in the fourth quarter.

Silver rallied and was up 2 percent at $26.90 an ounce, taking gains to almost 10 percent since messages began to circulate on Reddit early Thursday urging retail investors to pile into the market and drive up prices.

Anxiety has grown as investors