Leading U.S stocks rallied higher at the opening of the U.S trading session. The bullish run is largely attributed to Moderna reports on positive results from its latest COVID-19 vaccine trial, raising investors’ hopes for a quicker global economic recovery.
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- At the time of filing this report, Moderna Inc gained about 15% in premarket trading, as it said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in stopping COVID-19, based on interim data from a late-stage trial.
- Also, the world’s largest online car-sharing company, Uber Technologies, saw its shares rise more than 3% after reports on plans to sell its autonomous driving unit to self-driving car startup, Aurora.
- Big U.S. banks that include JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley, gained between 2.5% and 3.3%, while Boeing Co and Chevron Corp jumped more than 3%.
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What they are saying
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi, spoke on the market reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine, amid significant sell-offs seen in safe-haven assets lately.
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“The news on Moderna’s vaccine seems positive, both in terms of the 94.5% efficacy rate, but also the news that the vaccine has a longer shelf life at refrigerated temperatures. If confirmed, that could make it easier to distribute, as some of the other vaccine candidates need to be stored at much lower temperatures. The company statement on efficacy is here and storage is here.
“As to be expected, traders have sold traditional safe-haven currencies XAU/JPY/CHF, but the Moderna news is not even coming close to triggering a circuit breaker for risk this time around.”
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Bottom-line
The initial market impact might be more cautious than after the Pfizer news, given that it’s just ‘more of the same’, but the medium-term economic outlook should once again look better now, which in my view should support a sustained macro reassessment.
