TOPLINE
The stock market opened slightly higher on Friday, reversing earlier losses, after positive coronavirus vaccine news helped offset growing investor concerns about a record number of new U.S. cases.
Stocks ticked higher after Gilead’s coronavirus treatment showed positive data.
Marcel Kusch/dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 12 points at Friday’s open, while the S&P 500 was less than 0.1% higher and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded just above the flatline.
The market cut its early losses after Gilead Sciences said that its antiviral drug remdesivir—a potential coronavirus treatment—showed positive data in clinical trials.
The company said in a statement that remdesivir led to a 62% reduction in the risk of mortality compared to standard care, sending Gilead’s stock up 2%.
Shares of German company BioNTech, which is working with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, similarly jumped after news that the company will have a coronavirus vaccine ready for approval by the end of this year, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
The positive vaccine news comes amid a backdrop of surging coronavirus infections across the country, however: The U.S. reported a daily record of more than 63,000 new cases on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Key background
Shares of companies that would benefit from a reopening of the economy—including airlines, cruise stocks and some retailers—have declined as many states continued to see a spike in new coronavirus cases. The United States surpassed 3 million cases earlier this week, as outbreaks continue to worsen across the West and South: Florida, for instance, reported a record number of coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths on Thursday. Despite the spike in new cases causing more volatility in the market, the Nasdaq hit a fresh record high on Thursday thanks to strength in tech stocks. Shares of big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Apple and Google-parent Alphabet have all led the market higher recently.
Further reading
Dow Falls 350 Points Amid Renewed Coronavirus Fears And Worrying Economic Outlook (Forbes)
Dow Jumps 150 Points Even As U.S. Coronavirus Cases Top 3 Million (Forbes)
Dow Falls 400 Points Amid Lingering Coronavirus And Economic Fears (Forbes)
Tesla Is Now The World’s Most Valuable Car Company With A $208 Billion Valuation (Forbes)
Wall Street Quietly Begins Warning About A Biden Presidency (Forbes)
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