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MARKET REVIEW. Wall Street evolved without a clear direction Tuesday at the start of the session after the announcement by Russia of the development of a vaccine against Covid-19.
The clues
In Toronto, the S&P/TSX was 21 points, or 0.13%, to 16,627 points.
The composite index S&P 500 rose 12 points, or 0.38%, to 3373 points.
The Dow Jones on Wall Street appreciated 250 points, or 0.90%, to 28,042 points.
The Nasdaq yielded 31 points, or 0.29%, to 10,936 points.
The context
The New York Stock Exchange had finished Monday’s session already in dispersed order, digesting the new stimulus measures decreed by Donald Trump over the weekend and closely following the escalation of Sino-American tensions: the Dow Jones had gained 1 , 30%, while the Nasdaq was down 0.39%.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that Russia had developed the “first” vaccine against the new coronavirus, assuring that it gave “lasting immunity”.
Mr. Putin even said that one of his daughters had been inoculated with the vaccine, named “Sputnik V” (V for vaccine, Editor’s note), in reference to the Soviet satellite, the first spacecraft to be put into orbit.
“To be honest, there is a lot of skepticism about the Russian vaccine, which has passed through several key stages of clinical trials at lightning speed and which is unlikely to be accepted by the United States,” observes Patrick O’Hare of Briefing.com.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also reacted cautiously to the Russian announcement, recalling that the “prequalification” and approval of a vaccine went through “rigorous” procedures.
However, according to Mr. O’Hare, this news “is another indication that the world is only getting closer to the development of a reliable vaccine. “
The titles of companies that would benefit most from a vaccine and a reopening of the economy were on the rise.
This was the case for cruise passengers Norwegian Cruise Line (+5,68 %), Royal Caribbean (+ 4.03%) and Carnival (+ 3.14%), airlines American Airlines (+2,79 %), Delta Air Lines (+ 3.48%) and United Airlines (+ 1.37%), or tour operators Expedia (+ 5.77%) and TripAdvisor (+7,30 %).
On the other hand, big technology stocks, like Apple (-1,32 %), Amazon (-0,39 %), Facebook (-0.13%) and Netflix (-1.56%), retreated, which weighed on the Nasdaq.
Uber and Lyft back off
Among the values of the day, car reservation platforms with driver Uber (-2.01%) and Lift (-1.00%) were falling after a preliminary injunction from a California judge to reclassify their drivers as employees instead of self-employed, which will take effect in 10 days if not revoked.
The two companies are opposed to this change, ensuring that the status of contractual offers more flexibility to drivers and allows to guarantee a cheaper price for the rides for the users.
The laboratory BioNTech was down 4.84% after reporting larger-than-expected losses and lower-than-expected revenue in Q2. The group also announced that it could present the results of phase 2b / 3 clinical trials for a vaccine project against Covid-19 in October.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, which reported a quarterly loss of nearly $ 129 million, saw its stock tumble nearly 20%. The company also said phase 2/3 trials of its vaccine project would begin in September.
On the bond market, the 10-year US debt rate rose to 0.6399 %% from 0.5755% Monday night.
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