Wall Street gains on vaccine hopes, improving economic data
Reuters
Published Jul 01, 2020 07:31AM ET
Updated Jul 01, 2020 10:55AM ET
By Pawel Goraj and Devik Jain
(Reuters) - Wall Street opened higher on Wednesday as rising hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine reversed premarket losses, overshadowing fears of another round of lockdowns following a record surge in coronavirus cases in the United States.
A COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and German biotech firm BioNTech showed promise and was found to be well tolerated in early-stage human trials.
Pfizer's shares jumped 4.1% on the news, while BioNTech gained 3%, helping improve the mood on Wall Street after the United States registered 47,000 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the biggest one-day spike since the start of the pandemic.
Updates on the progress in various COVID-19 vaccine programs are being closely watched by investors, and have been partly responsible for Wall Street's recent rally. The S&P 500 closed its best quarter since 1998 on Tuesday.
Investors have also focused on signs of an economic recovery with the easing of coronavirus-induced lockdowns. Data on Wednesday showed that a slump in global manufacturing was easing in June, with U.S. figures hitting their highest level in more than a year.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its index of national factory activity jumped to a reading of 52.6 last month from 43.1 in May, ending three straight months of contraction.
On Thursday, all eyes will be on the Labor Department's nonfarm payrolls report.
At 10:17 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 113.35 points, or 0.44%, at 25,926.23, the S&P 500 was up 16.78 points, or 0.54%, at 3,117.07. The Nasdaq Composite was up 40.39 points, or 0.40%, at 10,099.15.
Battered cruise line operators Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH) Holdings Inc, Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) Cruises Ltd and Carnival (NYSE:CUK) Corp rose between 3.6% and 6%.
Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) edged up 1.7% after it reported a staggering $3.58 billion quarterly loss, led by a $3 billion impairment charge due to COVID-19 induced-store shutdowns.
FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) jumped 16.0% after posting better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue, helped by a surge in pandemic-fueled home deliveries.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.76-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.39-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
Get The News You Want
The S&P index recorded 7 new 52-week highs and no new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 48 new highs and 6 new lows.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.