NEW YORK – Wall Street stocks rocketed higher yesterday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending at records following progress on another coronavirus vaccine candidate that boosted confidence in economic recovery.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average packed on around 470 points, or 1.6%, to finish at 29,950.44, easily topping its prior all-time high.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.2% to 3,626.91, finishing at a second straight record, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8% to 11,924.13.
US biotech firm Moderna announced that its experimental vaccine against Covid-19 is almost 95% effective, marking a second major breakthrough in the quest to end the pandemic following a similar announcement by Pfizer last week.
“At some point in time, this will get us to the other side of the pandemic and a return to normal,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities.
The positive news about Moderna allowed investors to look past rising coronavirus cases that are stretching some hospital infrastructure in some parts of the US.
The US recorded 133,045 new infections and 616 deaths yesterday, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Moderna surged 9.6% following the announcement, and the vaccine news also boosted equities seen as beneficiaries from the economic rebound.
This group includes oil giant Chevron, which jumped 7.1%, and travel-oriented equities such as United Airlines, up 5.2%. – AFP, November 17, 2020
