By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Markets are soaring in the U.S. after Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) gave the world hope that a vaccine may be on its way.
The pharmaceutical company said its Covid-19 vaccine is 90% effective at preventing infection.
By 12:53 PM ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1,284 points, or 4.6%, while the S&P 500 was up 2.9% and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.64%.
Pfizer and partner Biontech Se (NASDAQ:BNTX) will seek regulatory approval for the vaccine by the end of November. The company said it could manufacture and distribute 1.3 billion doses by the end of next year.
Travel and leisure stocks rallied, with AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) soaring 66%, Carnival (NYSE:CUK) Corporation up 37% and Six Flags (NYSE:SIX) up 19%, as the vaccine promises to be a ticket to ride. Airlines also soared, with JetBlue Airways Corp (NASDAQ:JBLU) up 22% and Spirit Airlines Inc (NYSE:SAVE) rising 22%.
Stay-at-home winners turned into losers, with Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM) tumbling 14% and Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) down 16%, days after reporting strong demand for its bikes.
In non-vaccine related news, Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) was temporarily halted after McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) said it was developing a proprietary plant-based product. Beyond shares are down about 8%.
In a small glimpse of hope, General Motors (NYSE:GM) said it was hiring 3,000 tech employees related to its electric vehicle bet.
Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB) tumbled 30% after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted against its experimental Alzheimer's treatment.
Also, Monday marked the first trading day after Joe Biden was projected as the United States of America's 46th president.
Gold melted down on the vaccine news, sinking some 5% at one point. Oil prices jumped almost 10% on hopes the economy will be making a comeback as governments are expected to let us out again upon vaccination.