Stocks set to open higher
U.S. stocks are poised to start the week in the green territory amid more positive news on potential coronavirus vaccines.
By 5:35 a.m. ET, futures tied to the blue-chip Dow were up 254 points, or 0.86% to 29,664. Those for the S&P 500 futures rose 27.62 points, or 0.77% to 3,609.62 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 futures gained 63 points, or 0.53% to 11,996.50.
After Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY), another pharmaceutical company, Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) announced early Monday that its experimental Covid-19 vaccine, called mRNA-1273, is highly effective.
The vaccine, which uses a similar mRNA technology like Pfizer’s, has an efficacy of 94.5%. Moderna now plans to seek an emergency-use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks.
According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, an average of nearly 150,000 new daily infections have been reported across the U.S. in the past week, with deaths approaching 250,000.
Vaccine hopes, Chinese factory data buoys crude futures
Crude futures were trading higher early Monday, buoyed by vaccine news and better-than-expected China industrial output data.
As of this writing, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $40.88, up 75 cents, or 1.87% a barrel. International Brent crude futures gained 70 cents, or 1.64% to $43.48 a barrel.
According to data released by the Chinese government, industrial production rose by 6.9% in October from the year ago period. Analysts polled by Reuters had called for a rise of 6.5%.
The data means industrial output in Asian powerhouse is now 1.8% higher so far this year than over the same period last year, despite the impact that the coronavirus pandemic had in the early months of 2020.
Bumble reportedly working Goldman Sachs and Citigroup for an IPO
Meanwhile, a new report published by Bloomberg News says that dating-app Bumble is working with Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) on its planned initial public offering.
People according to people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg that the company could go public as early as the first quarter of 2021. The people added that Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is also advising on the offering.
The news outlet says the app could seek a valuation of $6 billion to $8 billion in a listing. According to Statista data, Bumble is the second most popular dating app after Tinder in the United States
