Global markets get coronavirus vaccine boost
November 9, 2020
Stock markets across the globe reacted positively to Monday's announcement that Phase III trials of a coronavirus vaccine had proven to be 90% effective, far exceeding most expectations.
German company BioNTech and its US partner Pfizer announced the initial results of the trials they conducted, prompting share prices to rocket, not least in the two pharmaceutical firms themselves. Pfizer's share price increased by 6% while BioNTech's US stocks shot up 18%.
Travel surge
The airline and tourism industry was one of the first to react, as share prices received a welcome boost.
Fraport, which operates Frankfurt Airport and holds interests in the operation of many other airports, reported a rise of 18% — a single day record for the firm.
Stocks in airlines such as Lufthansa and AirFrance KLM jumped by a third after their disastrous 2020; US airplane maker Boeing was up 12.6% and European giant Airbus logged similar gains.
Read more: Traveling to Germany: What you need to know about coronavirus restrictions
France's CAC 40 picked up 7.6%, Germany's DAX rose by 4.9% and the FTSE 100 in London closed 4.7% higher than it opened.
Wall Street soon followed Europe's lead — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite all hit record highs.
Oil prices jumped, perhaps in anticipation of renewed travel, while typical safe haven investments like gold and sliver shed value.
jsi/msh (AP, dpa, Reuters)