Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine announcement rocks global stock markets

Following Pfizer and BioNTech's announcement about their COVID-19 vaccine showing 90 percent efficacy, the global stock markets have soared giving major hopes that economies around the world can soon return to normal. The stock markets surged to new records soon after the drug companies’ announcement on Monday, November 9.

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FTSE 100 reaches its highest level since mid-August

According to Bloomberg data, the MSCI’s all-country world index on Monday exceeded its previous record high even before the COVID-19 vaccine announcement as investors took in the US presidential election updates. The vaccine news further pushed the FTSE 100 to its highest level since mid-August. The index went up by 4.8 percent to 6,195 points, an increase of 285 points. Meanwhile, the benchmark of the S&P 500 index jumped to a new record high at 3,645.99 points on Wall Street before retreating to a 3.2 percent gain for the day. As per reports, the Dow Jones industrial average and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite index both also hit new records.

Most of the pronounced stock market gainers on Monday were the companies that were mostly affected by the pandemic, while companies that had most benefited from lockdowns retreated from some of their spectacular gains, according to reports.

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The biggest winners on the FTSE 100 included shares in the jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, whose earnings are closely tied to the hours flown by planes around the globe. The companies shares nearly doubled in value within hours of the news, before retreating to a 50 percent gain. Moreover, drug companies' shares also increased; Pfizer shares gained 6.3 percent while the US-listed BioNTech rose by 10 percent.

The companies that saw a deep in their shares include UK home grocery delivery company Ocado it lost 12 percent, the Anglo-Dutch food delivery company Just Eat Takeaway fell by 10 percent. The online white goods retailer AO World whose sales rose sharply during the first lockdown lost 12 percent. Furthermore, Gold prices also fell by as much as 4.8 percent to $1,853 per troy ounce, down from above $1,960 on Monday morning, as investors abandoned the traditional safe haven in favour of riskier assets.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Over 90% Efficacy

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Monday showed more than 90 percent efficacy in preventing coronavirus, the preliminary results have now paved the way for the companies to seek an emergency-use authorisation from the regulators if further research shows the shot is also safe. While the coronavirus infections recently passed the grim milestone of 50 million cases, American pharmaceutical company Pfizer said that the interim analysis of its vaccine produced along with its German partner BioNTech group has shown promising results. 

The recent findings are based on an interim analysis conducted after 94 participants contracted coronavirus. According to a Bloomberg report, the trial will continue until 164 cases have occurred. If the data hold up and the key safety readout Pfizer expects in about a week also looks good, it could mean the world has a vital new tool to control the pandemic. The recent development could also bode well for the other experimental vaccines, in particular one being developed by Moderna Inc. that uses similar technology.

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(Image Credit: AP)