Gerri Willis on Johnson & Johnson vaccine
U.S. stock futures were lower Tuesday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine be paused amid blood-clotting concerns.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were trading down 136 points, or 0.4%, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were weaker by 0.23% and 0.05%, respectively.
“We are recommending a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution,” the FDA tweeted.
The recommendation comes after a rare and severe blood clot was discovered in six recipients. More than 6.8 million doses of the vaccine have been administered.
Shares of J&J were down more than 2.5% in premarket trading.
Travel stocks, including American Airlines Group Inc., Carnival Corp. and Marriott International Inc. were under pressure amid concerns a pause in the administration of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine would stunt the reopening of the economy.
As traders sold reopening names, they put money to work in stay-at-home plays like Peloton Interactive Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc.
In earnings, construction equipment maker Fastenal Co. reported profit and sales that missed Wall Street estimates.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. will report their quarterly results ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed 30 cents to $60 per barrel and gold fell $5 to $1,728.30 an ounce.
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Overseas markets were mixed.
Europe markets were little changed with France’s CAC 40 up 0.3%, Germany’s DAX gaining 0.2% and Britain’s FTSE 100 slipping 0.09%.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.72%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.15% and China’s Shanghai Composite index lost 0.48%.
