NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2020) Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average settled up nearly 4 percent on Monday, leading US stocks in recovery from the coronavirus slump after positive news on a vaccine development.
The Dow, the broadest equities gauge on the New York Stock Exchange, closed up 3.9 percent at 24,597. The S&P 500, barometer for the top 500 US stocks, settled up 3.1 percent at 2,952, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished up 2.4 percent at 9,234.
The stocks rally came after vaccine developer Moderna said early-stage clinical results suggested its trial vaccine for the COVID-19 has a "high probability" to provide protection from pandemic, sending the company's shares up nearly 20 percent.
"Risk appetite is running wild after Moderna's experimental vaccine showed promising early signs to create an immune-system response that might be able to fight off COVID-19," said Ed Moya, analyst at New York's OANDA.
The positive update from Moderna bolstered investor hopes that a vaccine may be found sooner rather than later, strengthening expectations for a quicker economic recovery at a time when many countries were still struggling to reopen their economies.
Travel and tourism stocks, hard hit by the pandemic, jumped on news of the vaccine development, led especially by cruise companies, hotels, and airlines.
With Monday's rally, the Dow remains down nearly 14 percent on the year while the S&P500 is off by almost 9 percent. The Nasdaq is the only one of three major Wall Street indexes to have returned to positive territory for the year, showing a gain of nearly 3 percent.
