Daily summary: Global stocks rally on vaccine news and election results

Global stocks rallied on Monday after US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech announced their experimental coronavirus vaccine was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 among those without evidence of prior infection, hailing the development as “a great day for science and humanity.”  This is good news, especially considering that the total number of COVID-19 infections worldwide surpassed 50 million and US alone recorded so far over 10 million cases. Recently US is reporting over 100,000 new infections per day, however the third wave of the pandemic accelerates also in other major economies around the world. Also investors welcomed the news that Joe Biden will become the next President of the United States. Market participants hope that new administration will bring more predictability and stability. Still, incumbent President Donald Trump refuses to accept the outcome of the election and launched lawsuits, claiming that voting had been rigged in many states. Meanwhile Republicans most likely will control the Senate, which means that Biden's administration will have a difficult task to raise taxes and expand regulation on businesses. During today's session Dax 30 rose 4.94%, CAC 40 added 7.57% and FTSE 100 finished 4.67% higher. Across the ocean, Dow Jones is trading 4.4% higher, S&P500 rose over 3% and Nasdaq added 0.80%. Shares of many technological and biotechnology companies like Zoom Video, Amazon, Biogen, Netflix, Facebook struggle today as traders rotated out of so-called stay-at-home stocks which were most popular during the pandemic and into beaten-down companies from aviation and travel sectors. Carnival’s stock jumped 30%, while Norwegian and Royal Caribbean added roughly 22% and 24%, respectively. For airlines, United jumped 15%, while American, Delta and Southwest also saw double-digit gains. AMC Entertainment stock soared more than 72%. Also energy and financial stocks moved higher following news regarding  coronavirus vaccine. JPMorgan and Citigroup shares both rose about 10%, while Valero and National Oilwell Varco stocks rose 27% and 24%, respectively. Also Exxon and Chevron also rose over 10%.

 

US crude futures are trading almost 10.0% higher while the international benchmark Brent contract rose over 8.0%. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the OPEC+ deal on oil output cuts could be adjusted as it has been in the past if there is consensus among members of the group. Elsewhere, gold futures fell nearly 5.0% around $ 1,862 / oz, while silver plunged over 7.0% as investors moved money out of safe havens into riskier assets.