Wednesday’s Stock Market Open: US Equities Rise On Goldman Sachs Superb Results, Moderna Vaccine News

Update: 12:05 p.m. EDT:

U.S. stocks pared back earlier gains by noon Wednesday, with Nasdaq turning negative.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 63.04 points to 26,705.63, while the S&P 500 rose 3.33 points to 3,200.85 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 67.28 points to 10,421.30.

In Europe markets closed higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.83%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.03% and Germany’s DAX rose 1.84%.

Original story:

U.S. stocks jumped on Wednesday on some positive developments on the covid-19 vaccine front and a blowout earnings quarter by Goldman Sachs (GS).

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 370.85 points to 27,013.44, while the S&P 500 rose 34.15 points to 3,231.67 and the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 70.88 points to 10,803.83.

Drugmaker Moderna (MRNA) said its potential covid-19 vaccine produced antibodies in all 45 patients in an early stage human trial.

“This should further increase confidence that we are getting a robust immune response, in that there should be greater confidence that this will be protective to a degree in transmission of Covid,” said Michael Yee, a managing director at Jefferies. “This is all along our positive thesis and our view that both Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech are definitely on a good track to get a vaccine by the end of the year.”

“The vaccine news is clearly a positive development,” said Mark Nash, head of global fixed income at Merian Global Investors. “But it’s still long way off. The fear of the W-shaped recovery is probably very high at the moment. Good news is that markets still have a chance to ride it out because the Fed has bought time, so financial conditions can stay easy until growth kicks in.”

Goldman Sachs posted second quarter earnings that far exceeded analysts’ expectations.

However, tensions between the U.S. and China intensified after President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on China in response to its new security laws in Hong Kong.

The U.S. reported 67,417 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, a new record.

The New York Fed’s Empire State’s business conditions index rose to 17.2 in July from minus- 0.2 in June.

Overnight in Asia markets finished mixed, as China’s Shanghai Composite index dropped 1.56%; Japan’s Nikkei-225 gained 1.59%; and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng exchange edged up 0.01%.

In Europe markets traded higher, as Britain’s FTSE-100 gained 1.81%, while France’s CAC-40 climbed 2.34% and Germany’s DAX rose 1.78%.

Crude oil futures rose 0.32% at $40.42 per barrel, Brent crude edged up 0.28% at $43.02. Gold futures slipped 0.34%.