GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks slide as social trading roils market

MSCI's benchmark for global equity markets fell 1.82% to 642.57, while Europe's broad FTSEurofirst 300 index closed down 1.95% at 1,524.1 to post its worst weekly loss, at 3.3%, since October. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.03%, the S&P 500 lost 1.93% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2%. The three indexes suffered their biggest weekly fall since the end of October.

NEW YORK/LONDON: Wall Street and lobal 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.