Stock futures slashed earlier losses Wednesday on the back of positive coronavirus vaccine news and strong U.S. payrolls data.
Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average traded just above the flatline after dropping more than 200 points earlier in the session. S&P 500 futures were also marginally higher while Nasdaq-100 futures were flat.
A study of a coronavirus vaccine candidate being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech showed the drug created neutralizing antibodies. The results were released online, but have not been reviewed by a medical journal yet.
Pfizer shares jumped more than 6% on the news and BioNTech’s U.S.-listed shares were halted following an 8.1% pop.
“It is just very surprising,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on “Squawk on the Street.” “This is highly unlike Pfizer … I, frankly, don’t want to accept it like this, but the market will and it’s kind of a saved-by-Pfizer market from where we were.”
Futures trimmed losses after ADP and Moody’s Analytics said private payrolls jumped by 2.37 million in June. Payrolls for May were also revised to a gain of more than 3 million from a loss of 2.76 million.
The market just notched its best quarter in decades as it snapped back from the historic sell-off triggered by the coronavirus. The Dow gained 17.8% in the second quarter, posting its best quarter since 1987, while the S&P 500 finished the period with a near 20% gain, its best since 1998. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 30.6% for the quarter, the most since 1999.
FedEx jumped nearly 11% after posting quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts’ forecast. The shipping company experienced a surge in deliveries amid the coronavirus lockdown.
While the market bounced sharply from its March lows, the recent spikes in coronavirus cases in some states kept investors on edge. White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Tuesday that if the outbreak continues at its current pace, daily new cases could surpass 100,000 new infections per day.
So far, more than 12 states have now paused or rolled back their reopenings as cases in the U.S. jumped 40% over the past week to an average of about 39,750 on Monday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“We continue to expect it to be an uneven process, albeit with a positive trajectory,” Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at SunTrust Advisory Services, said in a note. “The good news is through this digestion period, markets are working off some of the excesses that had built up, and elevated expectations are being reset.”
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