Dow Off Lows as Bulls Load Up on Tech Amid Vaccine Optimism
Investing.com
Published Jul 20, 2020 01:06PM ET
Updated Jul 20, 2020 02:34PM ET
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – Wall Street moved off session lows on Monday as a surge in tech and positive reports on a potential Covid-19 vaccine partly offset weakness in cyclical stocks amid rising coronavirus cases.
The S&P 500 gained 0.69%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 2.05% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.12%.
The race of the vaccine continues to heat up, with AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) and Oxford University revealing a positive update on a potential Covid-19 vaccine.
The phase 1 trial, which included 1,000 patients, showed that doses of the vaccine – called ChAdOx1 nCov-19 - triggered an immune response in patients, boosting their anitbodies and white blood cells to fight the virus.
"The immune responses observed following vaccination are in line with what we expect will be associated with protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, although we must continue with our rigorous clinical trial program to confirm this," said Andrew Pollard, chief investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial. "We saw the strongest immune response in participants who received two doses of the vaccine, indicating that this might be a good strategy for vaccination."
Other companies in the race for the vaccine fell. Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) fell 14% after JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) downgraded the company to neutral from overweight, though it raised its price target on the stock to $89 from $60.
As U.S. Covid-19 cases topped 3.5 million, meanwhile, investors reined in their bets on stocks tied to a smooth reopening of businesses across America amid fears further shut downs loom.
American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) fell 4%, Marriott International (NASDAQ:MAR) slid 2.5%, Carnival (NYSE:CCL) slipped 4%, and Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) was down 2.8%.
But strong gains in tech, led by Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), the so-called Fab 5, making up about 40% of the Nasdaq Index, kept losses in the broader in check.
Amazon surged more than 6% after Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) upgraded its price target on the stock to $3,800 from $3,100, citing an acceleration in online spending this year.
In deal news, Chevron (NYSE:CVX), down 2%, tabled an offer to buy Noble Energy (NASDAQ:NBL) for $5 billion.
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