Wall St books records, weekly gains on strong jobs report, Pfizer COVID-19 pill cheer

New York, Nov 6 (BUS): Wall Street’s major indexes hit record closing highs on Friday and posted solid gains for the week after a strong US jobs report and positive data for Pfizer’s trial pills against COVID-19.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes posted a record close for the seventh consecutive sessions, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed at a record high. Reuters said that the three indices recorded weekly gains for the fifth consecutive week.

The Labor Department report showed employment in the United States increased more than expected in October as headwinds from an increase in COVID-19 infections ebbed during the summer.

Pfizer Inc.’s (PFE.N) trial of an experimental antiviral pill for COVID-19 was halted early after the drug was shown to reduce 89% of the chances of hospitalization or death for adults at risk of serious illness. Pfizer shares jumped about 11%.

The news continued to flow in stocks after investors digested earlier in the week the Federal Reserve’s decision to begin reducing its monthly bond purchases to support the economy.

“The momentum we saw this week has continued, and the jobs report and Pfizer announcement certainly provide positive data points for investors to put more money in the market right now,” said Chuck Carlson, CEO of Horizon Investment Services in Hammond. , Indiana.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 203.72 points, or 0.56%, to 36,327.95 points, the Standard & Poor’s 500 increased 17.47 points, or 0.37%, to 4,697.53 points, and the Nasdaq Composite increased 31.28 points or. 0.2% to 15971.59.

Over the week, the S&P 500 is up 2%, the Dow is up 1.42%, and the Nasdaq is up 3.05%.

Travel stocks rose after Pfizer’s announcement, with the S&P 1500 (.SPCOMAIR) airline index up 7%, and cruise companies Carnival Corp (CCL.N), Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL.N) and Norwegian Cruise (NCLH.N) up 7%. ) between about 8% to 9%.

“It’s still too early to be definitive, but this[pill]feels like a real game-changer for a lot of industries like entertainment and transportation, and you see that reflected in the prices,” said Andre Bakhos, managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville. . New Jersey.

Among the S&P 500 sectors, energy (.SPNY) and industry (.SPLRCI) led the way, rising 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

Healthcare (.SPXHC) was the only sector to finish negative, down 1%. The Pfizer news weighed on shares of competitors such as Merck (MRK.N), which fell about 10%, and manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines such as Moderna (MRNA.O), which fell 16.6%.

So-called “stay-at-home” shares were down, with Zoom Video Communications (ZM.O) down 6.2% and Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) down 3.4%.

Better-than-expected third-quarter earnings helped lift sentiment toward stocks. With about 440 companies announced, S&P 500 earnings are expected to rise 41.5% in the previous year’s third quarter, according to Refinitiv IBES.

Shares of Pinterest Inc (PINS.N) rose 5.9% after the company’s strong fourth-quarter revenue forecast.

Shares of Peloton Interactive Inc (PTON.O) fell 35.3% after the company cut its full-year sales forecast by as much as $1 billion.

Advance issues outnumbered declining issues on the New York Stock Exchange by 2.16 to 1; On the Nasdaq, the 1.22 to 1 ratio favored heights.

The S&P 500 hit 83 new 52-week highs and two new lows; The Nasdaq made 303 new highs and 80 new lows.

About 11.5 billion shares were traded on US stock exchanges, compared to the daily average of 10.5 billion shares over the last 20 sessions.

NS