Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Open Higher; Moderna's COVID-19 Vaccine Shows 95% Efficacy In Phase 3 Trial

Following the market opening Monday, the Dow traded up 1.13% to 29,812.40 while the NASDAQ rose 0.50% to 11,888.47. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.73% to 3,611.22.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 11,038,310 cases with around 246,220 deaths. India confirmed a total of at least 8,845,120 confirmed cases and 130,070 deaths, while Brazil reported over 5,863,090 COVID-19 cases with 165,790 deaths. In total, there were at least 54,482,440 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 1,318,610 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Energy shares climbed 3.8% on Monday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included SM Energy Company SM, up 12%, and NACCO Industries, Inc. NC, up 12%.

In trading on Monday, real estate shares fell by 0.6%.

Top Headline

Moderna Inc MRNA announced on Monday the results from phase 3 trials for the COVID-19 vaccine show the vaccine is 94.5% effective.

This comes just one week after Pfizer PFE and BioNTech's BNTX vaccine candidate showed a 90% efficacy rate..

Equities Trading UP

HighPoint Resources Corporation HPR shares shot up 45% to $5.46 after surging 23% on Friday. HighPoint Resources, last week, received continued listing standard notice from the NYSE.

Shares of Foundation Building Materials, Inc. FBM got a boost, shooting 26% to $19.13 after the company announced it would be acquired by American Securities for $19.25 per share.

CBAK Energy Technology, Inc. CBAT shares were also up, gaining 22% to $7.48 after jumping around 55% on Friday.

Equities Trading DOWN

Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company HOFV shares tumbled 54% to $1.14 after the company reported pricing of $25 million public offering at $1.40 per share.

Shares of RAPT Therapeutics, Inc. RAPT were down 45% to $16.74 after the company reported Q3 earnings results and positive initial data from its ongoing phase 1/2 clinical trial of FLX475.

Casper Sleep Inc. CSPR was down, falling 20% to $5.94 after the company reported worse-than-expected Q3 results and also issued downbeat Q4 sales guidance.

Commodities

In commodity news, oil traded up 3.8% to $41.67, while gold traded down 0.8% to $1,870.50.

Silver traded down 1.6% Monday to $24.380 while copper rose 2.1% to $3.2435.

Euro zone

European shares were higher today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 rose 1.5%, the Spanish Ibex Index rose 3.1%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index gained 2.2%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 gained 1.3%, French CAC 40 gained 2.2% and London’s FTSE 100 rose 1.5%.

Consumer prices in Italy fell 0.3% year-over-year in October versus a 0.6% drop in the prior month.

Economics

The New York Empire State Manufacturing Index declined to 6.3 in November versus 10.5 in October.

The Treasury is set to auction 3-and 6-month bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly is set to speak at 1:45 p.m. ET.

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida will speak at 2:00 p.m. ET.