Dow surges more than 800 points in biggest rally in 5 months after positive Pfizer vaccine news
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 jumped on Monday as investors cheered trial data from drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech indicating their Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective. Shares of airlines and other travel-related stocks posted the biggest gains.
The 30-stock Dow closed 834.57 points higher, or 2.95%, to close at 29,157.97 for its biggest one-day gain since June 5. The average hit an all-time high earlier in the session, rising nearly 5.7%, or more than 1,600points at one point. The S&P 500 popped 1.2% to 3,550.50 and also reached an intraday all-time high. The small-cap Russell 2000 index gained 3.7%.
However, the Nasdaq Composite closed lower by 1.5% at 11,713.78 as traders rotated out of high-flying technology names that outperformed during the pandemic into more beaten-down value stocks.
Those losses in Big Tech weighed on the broader market as the session went on, leading the Dow and S&P 500 to close well below their highs of the day.
The vaccine announcement was seen on Wall Street as a sign that the pharmaceutical industry may soon have a viable way to control a disease that has derailed the U.S. economy for much of 2020 and has killed more than 230,000 Americans.
Reopening stocks jump, stay-at-home trade falters
Shares of cruise-operator Carnival Corp. rocketed higher by 39.3%, Southwest Airlines jumped 9.7% and the Walt Disney Company popped 11.9% as investors bet a vaccine may allow more vacationers to attend its many amusement parks.
Bank stocks also rallied on hopes of a quicker return to normal economic activity. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America gained 13.5% and 14.2%, respectively. Citigroup advanced 11.5%.
The so-called stay-at-home trade struggled. Zoom Video traded 17.4% lower and Amazon slid 5.1%. Netflix dipped 8.6%. Teladoc Health dropped 13.7%.
Reference: CNBC
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