Pfizer Vaccine Breakthrough Boosts Markets

Pfizer And BioNTech Report Great Results From Their Large-Scale Study Of COVID-19 Vaccine

S&P 500 futures have recently received a major boost after Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was found to be more than 90% effective in the first analysis of the large study.

Vaccine news provided significant support to stocks, and S&P 500 futures are gaining more than 4% in premarket trading. Not surprisingly, shares of vaccine developers are gaining a lot of ground ahead of the market open – Pfizer shares are up by 12% while BioNTech stock is up by more than 23%.

Meanwhile, WTI oil managed to return back above the $40 level as vaccine news increased hopes for a successful rebound of oil demand. At the same time, precious metals like gold and silver are under pressure as traders dump safe haven assets amid optimism about the vaccine.

Stay-At-Home Stocks Suffer On Vaccine News

While the vaccine news are positive for most stocks, shares of some companies are under major pressure in premarket trading.

Zoom and Peloton, which were one of the major winners during the pandemic, are down by almost 13%, and even Amazon is under pressure in premarket trading. As a result of the pressure on stay-at-home stocks, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is set to open higher by a modest 0.5%.

It remains to be seen whether vaccine news will trigger a real rotation from tech stocks into more cyclical stocks, but stay-at-home stocks will certainly have a very challenging trading session today.

Airline And Cruise Line Stocks Jump In Premarket Trading

Today, investors look ready to bet on beaten stocks like airlines and cruise lines. For example, American Airlines Group is up by 25% while Delta Air Lines  is gaining 18% in premarket trading.

Investors are even more optimistic about cruise lines like Carnival Corp. or Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings as an effective vaccine against COVID-19 may make the difference between bankruptcy and profitable business for these companies.

Traders should expect plenty of volatility in these stocks in the upcoming trading sessions as the market will try to find new price levels which take vaccine news into account.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.