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NEW YORK: Global stock indices rose and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted record closing highs on Tuesday after encouraging news about the COVID-19 vaccine, while Brexit negotiations weighed on the British pound.
Wall Street stocks reversed earlier declines for the day, even as concerns about further fiscal stimulus persisted.
Shares in Johnson & Johnson rose after the company said it could get the trial results on the last stage of a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine it is developing earlier than expected.
Pfizer Inc also won by overcoming the next hurdle in the race to get its COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use after the US health regulator released documents that pose no new safety or efficacy concerns.
Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Jersey, said there is a lot of short-term negative news due to the virus but at the same time, a lot of positive news due to the vaccine.
Nationwide COVID-19 infections in the United States were at their peak, with an average of 193,863 new cases reported each day for the past week, a Reuters tally of official data showed.
Investors are waiting to know if more stimulus will be approved. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers should pass an aid package without the corporate liability protections Republicans want or the aid to state and local governments that is a Democratic priority.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 104.09 points, or 0.35%, to 30,173.88, the S&P 500 gained 10.29 points, or 0.28%, to 3,702.25 and the Nasdaq Composite added 62.83 points , or 0.5%, at 12,582.77.
The S&P 500 managed to close above 3,700 for the first time.
The pan-European STOXX 600 Index closed 0.2% higher on the day, while MSCI’s global equity gauge gained 0.21%.
Investors were trying to assess how quickly and widely the vaccines might become available. A 90-year-old grandmother in Britain on Tuesday became the world’s first person to receive a fully tested COVID-19 injection.
The dollar rose in choppy trade, taking a breather from a sell-off that took it to its lowest level in more than two and a half years last week, while the British pound fell as investors waited for the outcome of the trade. Brexit trade deal.
With just three weeks to come out of a stalemate in trade deal negotiations, rumors of a chaotic British split from the European Union grew. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the two sides may have to accept “no deal.”
In the currency market, the British pound last traded at $ 1.3356, down 0.15% on the day, while the dollar index was up 0.1%.
Investors are also looking toward a two-day EU summit starting on Thursday, and the bloc is set to set its EU stimulus plan without Hungary and Poland maintaining their veto on the EU budget.
Long-term yields on US Treasuries were lower as investors kept an eye on news about vaccines and their distribution.
Benchmark 10-year notes last rose 3/32 in price to yield 0.92%, from 0.93% late Monday.
Oil prices changed little, with Brent crude futures closing at $ 48.84 a barrel, up 5 cents. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures closed 16 cents lower at $ 45.60.
Gold spot prices were also nearly flat.
– Reuters
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