U.S. markets
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Stocks on Wall Street climbed for a fifth consecutive day on Friday, extending a rally that has brought the S&P 500 back to record highs.
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The gains continued even after government data showed that U.S. employers added just 49,000 jobs in January, a weak recovery from an outright setback in December. But the rally also reflected expectations for a new stimulus plan, which continues to advance in Congress.
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The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent, adding to a rally of more than 4 percent already this week. It has more than recovered from last week’s drop, when a frenzy by retail traders in “meme stocks” like GameStop and AMC Entertainment unnerved markets. The rebound added up to the market’s best week since early November.
Robinhood, AMC and other “meme stocks”
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GameStop jumped about 20 percent, rebounding slightly from their crash this week. Still, for the week, the stock ended down 80 percent.
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Friday’s rally came after Robinhood, the online trading app that enraged users when it restricted buying some of the most popular stocks, announced that“there are currently no temporary limits” on buying shares.
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AMC Entertainment, another stock that has been the focus of small investors who have egged each other on with social media posts about their trades, fell 3.7 percent Friday. The shares were down about 48 percent for the week.
Europe
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Most European stock indexes were higher on Friday, with Italy’s still leading the way, as investors expressed confidence in Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, forming a new Italian government. The FTSE MIB in Italy has gained more than 6 percent this week, compared with a 2.6 percent gain in the Stoxx Europe 600 index.
Asia
Barack and Michelle Obama are getting into business with the “Sound of Metal” and “The Night Of” star Riz Ahmed.
The Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground Productions, is adapting Mohsin Hamid’s critically adored 2017 novel “Exit West” into a movie, which will star Mr. Ahmed, Netflix announced on Friday.
The movie is one of several projects that Netflix said the Obamas were developing for the streaming service. The Obamas signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in 2018 to produce television series, movies and documentaries.
Three years into their deal, Mr. and Mrs. Obama’s efforts have most been focused on documentaries. They acquired the 2019 film “American Factory,” which won the Oscar for best documentary. They also have also produced the documentaries “Crip Camp,”…