Shares of retailers and other consumer companies fell as a spike in Treasury yields and "meme" stock speculation offset strong jobs data.
The number of Americans making new unemployment applications fell by 111,000 to a seasonally adjusted 730,000 last week, the Labor Department said, the biggest drop in applications since the summer.
In a sign that higher mortgage rates are already denting demand in the housing market, the Pending Home Sales Index, an indicator of home sales based on contract signings, fell 2.8% to 122.8 in January.
Shares of GameStop spiked again, rising by more than 50% to around $150 a share at one stage a session after doubling in value, a dizzying move for a company that traded for less than $5 less than a year ago. Since then, the videogame retailer's shares have been targeted by day traders who gather on Reddit's WallStreetBets message board, led by Keith Gill. Gains eased late in the session.
Discounter Target is creating enclaves for Apple products at its retail stores that would double the space for the tech company's products in certain Target locations, based on similar models used for Target partners such as Walt Disney and Levi Strauss.
Costco Wholesale will pay its U.S. workers at least $16 an hour starting next week, the company's chief executive told Congress as lawmakers debate raising the federal minimum to $15 an hour. Best Buy has laid off workers and cut hours for others in recent weeks as it focuses on growth in digital channels, bringing its head count down to about 102,000 at the end of its last fiscal year, from about 123,000 at the start of the year.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-25-21 1733ET
