Morning Report: US sharemarkets rebounded on Thursday

There was an easing of fears surrounding the GameStop trading frenzy. Investors were encouraged by economic data. And heavyweight US tech stocks rose. Shares in Microsoft rose 2.6% and Netflix rose 2.9%. Shares in Apple lost 3.5% in response to quarterly earnings. At the close the Dow Jones index was up by 300 points or 1.0% after earlier being up 648 points. The S&P 500 index was up by 1.0% and the Nasdaq index was higher by 67 points or 0.5%.