Stocks surge as coronavirus vaccine delivered, stimulus hopes

FAN Editor

U.S. equity markets rallied Monday morning as the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines was delivered and bipartisan stimulus deal talks were showing signs of progress.

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Ticker Security Last Change Change %
I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 30294.6 +248.23 +0.83%
SP500 S&P 500 3695.38 +31.92 +0.87%
I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 12534.154763 +156.28 +1.26%

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 195 points, or 0.65%, in the opening minutes of trading while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were higher by 0.64% and 0.71%, respectively.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
PFE PFIZER INC. 40.41 -0.70 -1.69%
BNTX BIONTECH SE 119.20 -8.10 -6.36%

A healthcare worker in New York State on Monday became the first American to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
FDX FEDEX CORPORATION 293.36 +3.62 +1.25%
UPS UNITED PARCEL SERVICE INC. 170.08 +1.67 +0.99%

The immunization will be delivered by FedEx Corp. to 145 U.S. hospitals Monday, followed by another 425 on Tuesday and 66 on Wednesday.

The vaccine’s rollout comes amid chatter that negotiations surrounding a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package could restart after President Trump signed a bill that temporarily funds the government.

MILLENNIALS MAKE HOUSING MARKET A RARE WINNER IN CORONAVIRUS DOWNTURN

MERGER MONDAY

In mergers and acquisitions, British drugmaker AstraZeneca plc agreed to buy U.S. biotech Alexion Pharmaceuticals for $39 billion cash and stock. Alexion shareholders will receive a 45% premium to Friday’s closing price.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
AZN ASTRAZENECA PLC 50.64 -3.63 -6.69%
ALXN ALEXION PHARMACEUTICALS INC. 157.77 +36.79 +30.41%

Private-equity firm Vista Partners agreed to buy learning-software company Pluralsight Inc. for $3.5 billion cash, or a 25% premium to where shares settled on Friday.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
PS PLURALSIGHT INC 20.10 +1.12 +5.90%

Electronic Arts Inc. swooped in to buy U.K.-based racing game developer Codemasters in a $1.4 billion deal a month after rival Take-Two Interactive struck a $971 million agreement.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
EA ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. 137.68 +1.88 +1.38%
TTWO TAKE TWO 199.29 +9.08 +4.77%

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Elsewhere, Virgin Galactic Inc. shares were sharply lower after the company’s test flight conducted on Saturday failed to reach space as planned. The company said a rocket motor did not fire due to the ignition sequence not completing.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
SPCE VIRGIN GALACTIC HOLDINGS INC. 28.31 -3.71 -11.59%

Meanwhile, Tesla Inc. sent a letter to employees informing them the production of Model X and Model S vehicles will be shut down between Dec. 24 and Jan. 11, according to CNBC. The letter also asks impacted employees to “volunteer” to help deliver vehicles to customers.

Ticker Security Last Change Change %
TSLA TESLA INC. 626.67 +16.68 +2.73%

Looking at commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 61 cents to $47.18 per barrel while gold fell $6.90 to $1,836.70 an ounce.

European markets were trading higher across the board with Germany’s DAX 40 climbing 1.14%, France’s CAC 30 gaining 1% and Britain’s FTSE 100 edging up 0.17%.

In Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped 0.44% while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.3% and China’s Shanghai Composite rallied 0.66%.

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