GameStop shares plunge after ban by Robinhood app

Meteoric rise fizzles out after small investors are barred from trading in groups that had soared in value

• GameStop: how Reddit amateurs took aim at Wall Street's short-sellers

Shares in the GameStop video game company at the centre of small investors' gathering assault on Wall Street at one stage plunged 60%, after the amateur trading platform Robinhood barred users from investing in stocks including GameStop's.

Pre-market trading had suggested prices would dip, after the stock more than doubled in value on Wednesday. But shares in GameStop defied predictions initially, with an early surge taking the market value of the company beyond $30bn (22bn), nearly 100 times what it was worth in August last year.