- Title: Wall St ends higher, Nasdaq notches record closing high on full vaccine approval
- Date: 23rd August 2021
- Summary: BASALT, COLORADO, UNITED STATES (AUGUST 23, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) SANDERS MORRIS HARRIS CEO, GEORGE BALL, SAYING: "The trend of the market is up. The experts, which I'd like to think I'm one, are annoyed and even vexed by the fact that there hasn't been a significant downturn, a significant pullback in the market for quite a while. And we voice all the reasons why the market should go down, it keeps going up because the trend is your friend. Don't bet against the Fed. And for now, a placid, tepid economic backdrop is very good for stock prices. That's why today is a risk-on day. The economic pronouncements have been relatively disappointing if you're an economist, they've been quite pleasing if you're a stock trader."
- Embargoed: 6th September 2021 21:12
- Keywords: Delta Fed Federal Reserve Jackson Hole Wall Street coronavirus investors oil and banking shares selloff vaccine
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, AND BASALT, COLORADO, UNITED STATES
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, AND BASALT, COLORADO, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Economic Events,Equities Markets,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA002ERI3YO7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Wall Street rallied on Monday (August 23), and the Nasdaq reached an all-time closing high as sentiment was boosted by full FDA approval of a COVID-19 vaccine and market participants looked ahead to the Jackson Hole Symposium expected to convene later this week.
All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session sharply higher, with surging crude prices, driven by expected demand growth, putting energy shares out front.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc., and BioNTech SE in a move that could accelerate inoculations in the United States.
Pfizer and U.S.-listed shares of BioNTech advanced, as did rival Moderna Inc.
Spiking COVID-19 infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant have fueled concerns over a protracted recovery from the global health crisis.
Data released on Monday painted a mixed portrait of an economy inching back to normal in the wake of the most abrupt contraction in history.
Sales of pre-owned homes unexpectedly increased in July, according to the National Association of Realtors, while a report from IHS Markit showed business activity accelerating this month.
The "Goldilocks" portrait of an economic recovery headed in the right direction, but not robust enough to warrant a change in the Federal Reserve's dovish monetary policy, helped feed investor risk appetite.
Market participants look to the Jackson Hole Symposium, due to convene in Wyoming later this week. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's comments will be closely parsed for clues regarding the central bank's policy-tightening timeline.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215.63 points, or 0.61%, to 35,335.71, the S&P 500 gained 37.86 points, or 0.85%, to 4,479.53 and the Nasdaq Composite added 227.99 points, or 1.55%, to 14,942.65.
(Production: Fred Katayama, Hyeongmi Kim, Roselle Chen) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
