The first vaccine candidate in human trials is off to a promising start, new data revealed on Wednesday, and investors felt strongly enough about the good news to bid the market as a whole higher.
Biotech firm Moderna’s (ticker: MRNA) candidate, which uses messenger RNA to evoke an immune response in people, produced antibodies in all 45 people tested, who were all healthy adults ages 18 to 55. Shares of Moderna rose nearly 7% on the news.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 227 points, or 0.85%, to finish at 26,870.
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Apple wins a $15 billion tax case. U.S. tech giant Apple ( AAPL) got a victory against one of the company’s most formidable foes: European Union regulators. The European Commission was seeking nearly $15 billion in back taxes that the EC claimed Apple owed Ireland for unpaid taxes between 2003 and 2014.
While the ruling, on the surface, is the outcome Apple was looking for, it may encourage longer-term legal crackdowns on Big Tech in the EU as regulators seek to gain more control over Silicon Valley giants, the way they handle competition and privacy.
Cruise stocks soaring. Shares of cruise lines and air travel stocks were in all-out rally mode, fueled by the encouraging results in the Moderna study, giving hope to the future of the industry. Royal Caribbean Cruises ( RCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ( NCLH) and Carnival Corp. ( CCL) finished as the top three performers in the S&P 500, rising between 16% and 22% on the day.
American Airlines ( AAL) was the fourth-largest gainer, tacking on 16.2%.
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Moderna Vaccine Results Spark Stock Rally originally appeared on usnews.com
