Sector, I certainly remember there are institutions playing,...

Sector, I certainly remember there are institutions playing, they own shares but lend them to others to short, sending the value of their own investment down. Run bots to push the price up and down.

Why would then not contrive to try to push the price up at the close to get a favorable pattern. A spend of $290,000 at the close may have meant they only paying an extra $10-20K above the current price to get the finish they want. Next day sell into the market as new buyers continue to buy at higher prices, by lunchtime sellers have pushed the price down to square, they rinse and repeat.