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US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow set to open at record highs as vaccine moves step closer

Published 09/11/2020, 15:10
Updated 09/11/2020, 15:12
© Reuters.
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* Airlines, cruise operators soar on vaccine news
* Oil stocks, bank shares jump
* Stay-at-home winners retreat
* Futures soar: Dow 5.9%, S&P 4.6%, Nasdaq 1.3%

(Adds comment, details; Updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 9 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow were set to open at
record highs on Monday, as news of the first successful late
stage COVID-19 vaccine trials stirred hopes of the economy
emerging from a year of pandemic-driven crisis.
With markets also benefiting from a bounce after Joe Biden's
clinching of a tightly-fought presidential election, the
blue-chip Dow will finally have reclaimed all its
coronavirus-induced losses earlier this year after the news from
Pfizer PFE.N and German partner BioNTech BNTX.O . The S&P 500
and the Nasdaq returned to record highs briefly in September.
The companies hit hardest by months of travel bans and
lockdowns soared, with Boeing Co BA.N up 15%, and airlines
AAL.O UAL.O and cruise line operators NCLH.N CCL.N all
between 20% and 30% higher.
Pfizer shares jumped 13%, while futures tracking the
small-cap Russell 2000 index RTYcv1 jumped 7% to hit its upper
trading limit by 07:38 a.m. ET.
At 08:39 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 1,673 points,
or 5.93%. The S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 4.58% to 3,660.75
points; the daily limit up is at 3,746 for Monday.
"The (vaccine effectiveness) has far exceeded even the
wildest of optimistic expectations and the market is reflecting
that," said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital
Llc in New York.
"This is getting to the end of the crisis (and) is a game
changer."
Oil prices soared over 10%, while the U.S. Treasuries sold
off after Pfizer and BioNtech said the data showed the vaccine
was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
U.S. banks including Citigroup Inc C.N and Bank of America
Corp BAC.N , often seen as a proxy for the broader economy,
jumped about 9%, while oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and
Chevron Corp CVX.N climbed about 10%.
The companies, the first drugmakers to show successful data
from a large-scale clinical trial, said they had found no
serious safety concerns so far, and expect to seek U.S.
emergency use authorization later this month. By contrast, shares in tech and other companies seen as
"stay-at-home" winners were lower or gaining less.
Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 gained 152.5 points or 1.29%,
underperforming the S&P and Dow futures as Netflix Inc NFLX.O
dropped 5.6%, gaming company Activision Blizzard Inc ATVI.O
and online retail giant Amazon.com AMZN.O fell about 3%.
Biden's victory in Pennsylvania on Saturday put him above
the 270 Electoral College votes needed to secure the presidency,
four days after Election Day, although President Donald Trump
does not plan to concede anytime soon. Among other movers, McDonald's Corp MCD.N gained about 5%
after it beat third-quarter revenue and profit estimates, as
customers in the United States ordered more hamburgers and fries
in drive-through outlets and on delivery apps.

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