US Stocks Post Second Straight Weekly Gain as Vaccine Optimism Counters Rise of Virus



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  • US stocks rose on Friday, closing back-to-back weekly gains as a post-election rally was fueled by optimism around a successful COVID-19 vaccine despite a record surge in daily cases.
  • A strong efficacy rate of over 90% from Pfizer and BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine boosted investors’ hope that a reopening of the economy is likely in 2021.
  • Investor optimism toward a COVID-19 vaccine could spread next week as President Donald Trump prepares to deliver a speech on Operation Warp Speed ​​on Friday afternoon, and Moderna is expected to release data on your vaccine candidate next week.
  • See the update of the main indices live here.

US stocks rose on Friday and closed back-to-back weekly gains as investor optimism toward a COVID-19 vaccine surpassed a record surge in daily virus cases.

Hopes for a successful COVID-19 vaccine to be developed and rapidly distributed could extend into next week as Moderna is expected to release interim data on its candidate vaccine after it said there are enough COVID-19 patients in the study. to allow analysis of how effective the candidate vaccine is.

According to Anthony Fauci, there is a good chance that Moderna’s vaccine trial results will be positive.

On top of that, President Donald Trump is expected to deliver a speech Friday afternoon on the status of Operation Warp Speed, a government program intended to aid and accelerate the development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

This is where the US indices placed at the market close at 4pm ET on Friday:

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Stocks opened the week sharply higher, driven by Monday’s announcement from Pfizer and BioNtech that their COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated an efficacy rate of more than 90%.

And while investors are focusing on a COVID-19 vaccine rather than an increase in virus cases, consumers not so much, according to consumer sentiment data that recorded its first drop in 4 months.

Outside of the US, investor caution toward China-based companies is on the rise following a report that Ant Group’s highly anticipated IPO that debuted last week was personally withdrawn by Xi Jinping after it Jack Ma made critical comments of government leaders.

In addition to that, President Trump signed an executive order late Thursday afternoon that prohibited US investment firms and pension funds from investing in various Chinese companies that have ties to its military.

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In corporate news, DraftKings skyrocketed after outperforming third-quarter earnings and said it surpassed more than 1 million monthly users.

Nio, a China-based electric vehicle maker, fell on Friday after a short sellers report from Citron Research set a target of $ 25 on the company, representing a possible 48% downside.

Oil prices fell. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.5% to $ 40.09 a barrel. Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, fell 2% to $ 42.67 a barrel, at intraday lows.

Gold rose on Wednesday, rising as much as 1.1%, to $ 1,896.82 an ounce.

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