Dow Soars Over 1,500 Points In Early Trading; Mixed Results Among Tech Stocks
SAN JOSE (CBS SF/AP) -- While the Dow soared at the opening bell -- fueled by Pfizer announcing promising vaccine news and Joe Biden's election to the White House -- three of the cornerstones of Silicon Valley's FAANG stock engine were actually bucking the trend.
By midmorning, Facebook shares had actually taken a 1% fall or off $3.13, Netflix had stumbled by $29.24 a share and Amazon was also down $56.37 a share. Elsewhere among the FANNG stocks -- Google was up nearly $21 a share and Apple was up slightly at $1.83 a share.
The Dow opened up 1,600 points, or 5.6%, while the broader S&P 500 jumped 3.7%.
The Nasdaq Composite also opened higher, jumping 1.3%, but the tech-heavy index is lagging behind as many tech stocks that benefited during stay-at-home orders went into reverse.
Pfizer's much-better-than-expected vaccine efficacy announcement, albeit an early look at its data, is just what Wall Street had been hoping for. The coronavirus pandemic has caused historic economic turmoil across the globe, and cases are surging to new records every day. That threatens to tip the scales and send the US economy heading in the wrong direction once again.
Although the vaccine is not set to be widely administered soon, Pfizer said it plans to seek emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration soon after volunteers have been monitored for two months following their second dose of the vaccine.
The drugmaker's CEO Albert Bourla said Monday that the company expects to have 1.3 billion doses of the vaccine globally next year, on top of 50 million doses this year. Two separate production lines, one in the United States and one in Europe, will make the vaccine.
Pfizer's stock surged 14.1% at the open.
The vaccine news was good for pharmaceutical stocks, including Dow components Merck and Johnson & Johnson, both of which were higher before the bell.
But the positive sentiment helped industries battered by the pandemic as well: Cruise lines, including Norwegian and Carnival shot higher, and airline stocks soared, too.
Oil, which had been plunging as the economy took a turn for the worse, fared better Monday morning. US oil prices were up more than 10%.
On the other end of the spectrum, stocks that benefited from the stay-at-home work culture since the spring tumbled.
Even before Pfizer's vaccine news, stock futures had been pointing to a higher open. With the uncertainty surrounding last week's US presidential election mostly in the rearview mirror, investors have been focusing on the positive effects of a Biden presidency: The first reaction to Biden's official projection as the winner over the weekend was a positive one.
The market also rallied last week, as the market predicted Joe Biden to win the contest.
Investors are hoping that a Democratic White House paired with a Republican Senate will lead to more moderate policy -- and lesser increases in taxes and regulation -- while still getting a new stimulus deal on the table quickly.
Although President Donald Trump continues his legal fight and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud — and the fate of the Senate remains up in the air — Wall Street was pleased that a great deal of uncertainty is out of the way.
