Nov. 23 (UPI) — The major U.S. indexes climbed Monday amid news that another COVID-19 vaccine was shown to be highly effective in tests.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 327.79 points, or 1.12%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.56% and the Nasdaq Composite grew 0.22% after AstraZeneca said the vaccine it is developing alongside Oxford University has an average efficacy of 70%.
AstraZeneca’s news came after the vaccines being developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were both around 95% effective.
Shares of cruise lines and airlines helped to lead the rise behind optimism that a vaccine could lead to an increase in travel, with Carnival increasing 4.66% and United Airlines gaining 2.58%.
“We’ve had several Mondays in a row with vaccine updates,” Sahak Manuelian, head of equity trading at Wedbush Securities, told MarketWatch. “Markets are getting pretty excited about that and it’s taking some of the headwinds out of 2021.”
The news had the opposite effect on tech stocks as Apple fell 2.97% and Netflix declined 2.38%.
The Dow hit its session high as President-elect Joe Biden announced he plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to serve as his Treasury secretary.
“[Yellen] is a big name, with significant experience highlighted by her time at The Fed,” Alli McCartney of UBS Wealth Management told CNBC.
“I am not surprised markets are reacting favorably as this choice is reassuring, especially with the challenges that lie ahead including avoiding a double-dip recession and getting people back to work amidst rising virus cases.”
