BioNTech shares rise on reported coronavirus vaccine progress
A German biotech firm said it has a coronavirus vaccine that will be ready for approval by the end of the year. Shares of BioNTech rose 2% in premarket trading following a Wall Street Journal report that it will be seeking regulatory approval for its vaccine that uses experimental technology known as messenger RNA, or mRNA. BioNTech is one of 17 firms globally that are currently testing on humans in the fight against the virus. The company told the Journal it could have millions of doses produced even before it gets the regulatory green light, and could have more than a billion by the end of 2021. However, CEO Dr. Ugur Sahin said that even with vaccines, it could take a decade before the world develops sufficient immunity to the virus. — Jeff Cox
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Futures point to Friday losses, but tech again blunts Nasdaq’s dip
Futures tied to the major U.S. stock indexes pointed to losses on the week’s final day of trading as investors headed for the relative safety of government debt amid the potential for bearish coronavirus headlines over the weekend.
Dow Jones futures fell 128 points, or 0.5%. The move implied a loss of about 142 points at the open. S&P 500 futures fell 0.4%. The decline threatened to push the S&P 500 into negative territory for the week and added to an already-down week for the Dow.
Nasdaq-100 futures were down just 0.3%. The Nasdaq has for nearly the entire week outperformed the two other major indexes amid hardiness among the largest tech and communications stocks.
The Composite, up 3.3% for the week through Thursday’s close, has notched multiple record closes this week thanks to a 10.1% rally in Amazon, a 6.4% advance in Netflix, a 5% rise for Apple and a 9% climb for chipmaker Nvidia. — Thomas Franck
