US Stocks gain on vaccine developments news

The US stock market finished session higher on Monday, 23 November 2020, as appetite for riskier assets underpinned on upbeat news regarding a potential coronavirus vaccine. Further aiding to sentiment was news that President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for Treasury secretary.

At the close of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index added 327.79 points, or 1.12%, to 29,591.27. The S&P 500 index rose 20.05 points, or 0.56%, to 3,577.59. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed up 25.66 points, or 0.22%, to 11,880.63.

US share markets commenced trading with firm footing on Monday on positive vaccine developments from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The AstraZeneca (AZN) announced the its vaccine candidate being developed in collaboration with Oxford University had an average efficacy of 70%. The drug maker said one dosing regimen showed vaccine efficacy of 90% when given as a half dose, followed by a full dose at least one month apart, while another dosing regimen showed 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. This follows late-stage trial data from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna showing that their respective Covid-19 vaccines were around 95% effective.

Adding to the positive sentiment, the FDA has granted an emergency use authorization for Regeneron's Covid-19 antibody treatment.

Further boosting to positive sentiment was news that President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for Treasury secretary. Yellen oversaw a solid economic expansion during her term as Fed chair from 2014 to 2018 in the wake of the financial crisis.

Energy (+7.1%) shares were the strongest performers on the S&P 500 index. Chevron (+6.1%) and Boeing (+6%) lifted the Dow Jones index. But Apple (-3%) was a drag on major indexes. The Dow Jones index

In US economic data, the 'flash' IHS Markit manufacturing index rose from 53.4 to 6-year highs of 56.7 in November. The services index lifted from 56.9 to 5-year highs of 57.7 in the month. The Chicago Federal Reserve national activity index rose from 0.32 to 0.83 in October.

Among Indian ADR, Dr Reddys Labs fell 0.03% to $63.02, Tata Motors fell 2.5% to $11.29, HDFC Bank dropped 0.18% to $66.50, and ICICI Bank declined 0.61% to $12.95. Wipro added 1.4% to $5.06, INFOSYS added 0.54% to $14.91, WNS Holdings added 1.4% to $68.02, Vedanta added 1.79% to $6.25, and Azure Power Global added 5.2% to $31.75.

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