Stock futures rise sharply
U.S. stock futures were pointing to sharply higher start for Wall Street on Monday as market participants embraced the election victory of Democrat Joe Biden and shrugged off President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede.
Democrats are expected to maintain their majority in the House of Representatives, but control of the Senate likely won’t be decided until a January runoff in Georgia. The result in the southern U.S state would determine the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans in Washington.
By 7:00 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average were indicated 1242.5 points, or 4.41% higher to 29,446.5. The S&P 500 futures rallied 122.13 points, or 3.49% to 3,622.88 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures surged 147.88 points, or 1.22% to 12,222.88.
Pfizer says its Covid-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective
Meanwhile, Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) announced on Monday morning that an experimental vaccine it’s developing in partnership with BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) proved to be over 90% effective in the first 94 participants who were infected by the virus and developed at least one symptom.
Pfizer and BioNTech plan to ask health regulators for permission to distribute the vaccine before the end of this month, if further data shows it is safe. The study is scheduled to continue until 164 cases have occurred.
If the data holds up and a key safety readout the companies expect in about a week is also good, the world would have an important new tool to control the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 1.2 million lives worldwide.
As of writing, Pfizer stock was up $4, or 10.99% to $40.40 a share, while BioNTech shares gained $24.63, or 26.77% to $116.63 each in the pre-market trading session.
Crude buoyed by Biden win and vaccine hopes
Crude futures also rallied early Monday amid hopes that global trade ties will improve and monetary policy in the U.S. will remain easy under President-elect Joe Biden.
Prices were also lifted by Pfizer vaccine news and U.S. jobs report released Friday, which showed the economy added 638,000 in October and unemployment dropped to 6.9%.
However, the escalating coronavirus pandemic and weak demand concerns are still on the forefront of oil traders’ mind.
As of 4:50 a.m. ET, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up $3.11, or 8.37% to $40.25 per barrel. International Brent crude futures were at $42.59, up $3.14, or 7.96% a barrel.
