The S&P 500 ended lower on Thursday after a report that Pfizer Inc had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine. But the Nasdaq ended at a new record high, and the TSX also managed to end slightly higher with the help of stronger crude oil prices.
The widely followed U.S. stock benchmark fell from record highs late in the session after the Wall Street Journal reported that Pfizer faced supply chain obstacles related to the vaccine, sending its stock down 1.7%.
The Journal reported that Pfizer still expects to roll out more than a billion doses in 2021. Pfizer and Germany-based partner BioNTech SE had hoped to roll out 100 million vaccines world-wide by the end of this year, a plan that has now been reduced to 50 million, the Journal said. The U.K. on Wednesday granted emergency-use authorization for the vaccine, becoming the first Western country to start administering doses.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 39.81 points, or 0.23%, at 17,398.02. Financials rose 0.09% as the big Canadian banks concluded an earnings season that featured lower loan loss provisions as well as net profits that exceeded Street expectations. Energy stocks rose 0.65% as crude oil prices continued to trend upwards.
On Wall Street, Tesla surged 5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” in the run-up to the electric car maker’s addition to the S&P 500 index.
Tesla was Wall Street’s most traded stock by value, with about $25 billion worth of shares exchanged, according to Refinitiv data, more than double Boeing, in second place.
Progress in developing a working COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year has driven Wall Street’s main indexes to record levels in recent days. Despite the economic destruction caused by the pandemic, the S&P 500 has gained about 13% in 2020.
“It was the Pfizer news that cut into earlier gains,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“We’re in a year-end Santa rally, but it’s going to be a muted one. Stimulus hopes are back in the market and it looks like we might get something before year-end, which the economy desperately needs.”
First-time U.S. claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but remained extraordinarily high at 712,000, while a separate survey showed U.S. services industry activity slowed to a six-month low in November.
“I don’t think we will see those numbers start to get back to normal until we start to see a rollout of a vaccine,” said Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ. “The market is discounting that and saying we are looking forward to the first or second quarter and a rollout of the vaccine to the general population.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited some positive movement in congressional efforts to reach a compromise on a new coronavirus aid bill but gave no hints on when such a deal could be struck.
Boeing Co jumped after budget airline Ryanair ordered 75 additional 737 MAX jets with a list price of $9 billion, throwing a commercial lifeline to the embattled U.S. planemaker.
Six of 11 S&P 500 sector indexes rose, led by a 1% gain in energy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29% to end at 29,969.52 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 3,666.72.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.23% to 12,377.18.
Broad vaccine optimism helped lift the S&P 1500 airlines index 4%. Cruise operators Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd both surged more than 8%.
Most world equity benchmarks rose along with gold and U.S. Treasury bonds on Thursday as hopes for a vaccine-led economic recovery offset warnings the death toll from the coronavirus pandemic could spike in the coming weeks.
Stocks have raced to global record peaks over the last four weeks, pushing the U.S. dollar down to 2 1/2-year lows, following the announcement of three viable vaccines.
MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.32% following broad gains in Asia and mixed trading in Europe.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury notes rose 10/32 in price to yield 0.9129%, from 0.946% late Wednesday. The dollar index fell 0.357%, with the euro up 0.25% to $1.2145.
Brent crude prices rose to their highest since early March on renewed hopes for a U.S. stimulus deal and after major oil producers agreed to increase output by a modest 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from January.
U.S. crude rose 0.77% to $45.63 per barrel and Brent was at $48.59, up 0.7% on the day.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.5 billion shares, compared with the 11.7 billion average over the last 20 trading days.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by a 2.02-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.51-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 174 new highs and seven new lows.
Read more: Stocks that saw action on Thursday - and why
Reuters, with files from Darcy Keith of The Globe and Mail
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