By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are seen opening substantially higher Monday, continuing the post-election rally, helped by positive news from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) over its Covid-19 virus vaccine as well as the likely end of political uncertainty after Joe Biden claimed the White House over the weekend.
At 7:05 AM ET (1205 GMT), S&P 500 Futures traded 120 points, or 3.5%, higher, the Dow Futures contract rose 1,312 points, or 4.6%, while Nasdaq 100 Futures climbed 140 points, or 1.2%. These cash indices last week posted their best weekly gains since April.
Earlier Monday, U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said its experimental vaccine, made in conjunction with German partner BioNTech, was more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 based on initial data from a large study.
This is the first incidence of drugmakers showing successful data from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine, designed to combat a pandemic that has killed over one million people worldwide.
This is good news for the markets, and will be a major help to the coronavirus task force that president-elect Joe Biden has already convened, appointing former surgeon general Vivek Murthy and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler to lead the team.
Biden clinched the presidency on Saturday, clearing the threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the White House. Incumbent Donald Trump has yet to concede defeat, but his lawsuits alleging unsubstantiated election fraud are seen as highly likely to fail.
The Republicans are expected to keep hold of the Senate, although this won’t be decided until January, meaning drastic policy changes such as tax hikes or more stringent corporate regulation are less likely.
“We see a Biden presidency and a divided Congress, our central scenario, as a constructive outcome for risk markets,” said analysts at ING, in a research note.
Along with expectations of a reflationary U.S. fiscal policy and a continued loose monetary policy, there are also hopes that a Biden administration will lead to a more collaborative attitude towards global trade, particularly between the major trading blocs of the U.S., the European Union and China.
The economic data slate is quiet Monday, but the earnings season continues with numbers from the likes of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) and Tilray (NASDAQ:TLRY) expected later in the session.
Oil prices also surged Monday, with Pfizer's news coupled with Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential race buoying risk appetites as traders look for a larger coronavirus relief package, offsetting worries about the impact on demand from a worsening pandemic.
U.S. crude futures traded 8.7% higher at $40.38 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 8% to $42.59, recovering after losing 4% on Friday.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 2.1% to $1,910.50/oz, but remained on course for its biggest weekly gain since July, while EUR/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.1885.