US stocks end first day of second quarter with gains
Labor organizer and Amazon worker Jason Anthony (C) speaks to members of the media to update them on the vote count to unionize workers at the offices of the National Labor Relations Board in Brooklyn, NY on Friday. Photo by Jason Szenes/EPA-EFE
April 1 (UPI) — The three major stock indexes in the United States ended the first day of the second quarter on Friday with gains after tumultuous trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 139.92 points, about 0.4% higher, while the S&P 500 ended up 0.34% and the Nasdaq closed with a gain of 0.29 %.
Amazon closed slightly after a historic union vote to unionize, and GameStop’s stock prices fell slightly after a frenzy following a stock split announcement.
Workers at an Amazon warehouse in New York’s borough of Staten Island got enough votes on Friday to successfully become the company’s first employees to unionize, challenging the working model of the company.
The Amazon Labor Union is demanding that the company raise wages in line with the high cost of living in the Big Apple, as well as paid sick leave, job security and shuttle service for workers.
Amazon’s share rose 0.35% to $3,271.20 by the end of the day after hitting mid-morning trading highs before the start of the ballot count. Share prices had fallen by mid-afternoon, but rebounded before the market closed.
Meanwhile, GameStop announced in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday that the company plans to seek shareholder approval for a stock split, increasing the number of available common shares from 300 million to 1 billion. .
The planned stock split, which would be the company’s first in more than a decade, would lower the price of individual shares while maintaining the same value.
GameStop’s stock price has risen 8.57% this week and traded at $165 as of Friday’s market close, despite recent declines in the company’s net income as gamers shift from buying physical games to online games and game purchases.
Last year, GameStop was part of a group of so-called “meme stocks” that attracted investors from the r/WallStreetBets subreddit trying to cut hedge funds by driving the stock price well above what they were supposed to have been. value.