This post was originally published on this site
https://i-invdn-com.akamaized.net/news/LYNXNPEB7P15O_M.jpg
Investing.com — U.S. stock markets opened at new record highs for a second straight day on Tuesday, as hopes for a boost to the already-agreed fiscal stimulus package dovetailed with the urge to do some “window-dressing” of year-end balance sheets.
By 9: 35 AM ET (1435 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 131 points, or 0.4% at 30,535 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were also both up 0.4%. All three had posted their highest ever closes already on Monday, supported by confidence that the stimulus package would put a floor under household spending – the biggest part of the U.S. economy – for the next few months.
Among the conspicuous early movers were AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) ADRs, which rose 1.9% as various reports suggested that U.K. health regulators could approve its Covid-19 vaccine for use as early as today.
Approval from any advanced economy is likely to accelerate the rollout of a vaccine that is substantially cheaper than many of its rivals, even though there are doubts that it is as effective as the drugs developed by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna , which were approved earlier in the month.
Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) stock, which has been under pressure for most of the time since its drug was approved for emergency use by U.S. regulators, fell another 9.7% in early trading.
Elsewhere, Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) stock ground out a new 52-week high, although it wasn’t obvious that the announcement of a new $2.5 billion investment in Poland to build electric and hybrid vehicles was responsible for the move.
