U.S. Stocks Lifted by COVID-19 Vaccine Progress

W460

Wall Street stocks opened decisively higher Monday as progress on a coronavirus vaccine offset unease at worsening outbreaks in many parts of the United States.

About 10 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 26,298.79, up 0.9 percent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 3,210.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.4 percent to 10,766.29, rising further from record levels.

The state of Florida on Sunday reported more than 15,000 cases of coronavirus in a day, a new record for a US state. Numerous other states are also seeing a spike in cases and more and more hospitals are saying they're overburdened.

But investors also got some good news on the COVID-19 front, with Pfizer and BioNTech announcing that two of four vaccine candidates for the coronavirus received "Fast Track" designation from the US Food and Drug Administration.

If ongoing tests are successful, the companies could manufacturer up to 100 million doses by the end of 2020, said a joint press release.

This week's calendar includes a trove of earnings announcements from large banks and a handful of other companies. Other events on the calendar include reports on retail sales and consumer prices.

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