July 20 (UPI) — U.S. markets rose to their highest marks since February amid rising tech stocks and optimism surrounding a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 8.92 points, or 0.03%, while the S&P 500 turned positive for the year after gaining 0.84% and the Nasdaq Composite hit a record high as increased 2.51%, it’s highest boost since April.
Tech stocks helped to push the Nasdaq higher as Amazon skyrocketed up 7.93%, its largest gain since December 2018, while Microsoft rose 4.3%, Alphabet climbed 3.1%, Apple grew 2.11%, Netflix increased 1.91% and Facebook ending the day up 1.40%.
Pfizer and BioNTech reported positive results from a joint coronavirus vaccine candidate test saying it “elicited high, dose level-dependent SARS-CoV-2-neutralizing titers and RBD-binding IgG concentrations after the second dose.”
Pfizer stock rose 0.69 percent and BioNTech increased 3.46 percent.
A vaccine candidate from Oxford University and AstraZeneca also reported positive results causing AstraZeneca stock to climb to a record following the news, but shares ultimately fell 3.98% after analysts said the data failed to meet expectations
In extended trading on Monday afternoon, IBM stock increased 6% after the company exceeded analysts’ expectations in its second-quarter earnings report.
The company reported earnings of $2.18 per share and revenue of $18.12 billion.
