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Investing.com – Wall Street rallied on Monday as positive Covid-19 vaccine news and the start of corporate earnings season overshadowed an ongoing surge in virus hotspots across the U.S.
The S&P 500 gained 1.37%, while the Nasdaq Composite added 1.42% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.84%.
Coronavirus cases in Florida swelled to a record, topping 15,000 infections on Sunday, taking the total to 3.4 million with about 136,000 deaths.
The spike in cases, which has led some states to reverse or pause reopening measures, failed to sour investor sentiment in the wake of positive vaccine news.
Pharma giant Pfizer said that two of the four new coronavirus vaccine candidates that it was developing with German-based BioNTech (BNTX) received fast-track designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) jumped 5%, while Biontech (NASDAQ:BNTX) jumped more than 14%.
The corporate earnings season, which got underway on Monday, also provided investors with clues on the pandemic’s impact on corporate results.
PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) reported second-quarter results that beat consensus estimates on both the top and bottom lines, led by performance in its global snacks and foods business. Its shares rose more than 2%.
A slew of earnings from banks including Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), and Citigroup (NYSE:C) – all of which are set to report quarterly results on Tuesday – will offer further insight into activity on Wall Street with an uptick trading income and higher loan loss provisions expected to garner investor attention.
Casino stocks, meanwhile, caught a bid as on news Macau lifted quarantine requirements.
Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN) rose 12%, Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS) was up 7.4%, and MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) rose 6.6%.
Elsewhere, tech continued to build on last week’s strong gains, with FAANG stocks hitting new highs, and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) leading the pack, up more than 3%.
