The day before, new concerns about US relations with China had already cost the Dow a few points and ultimately pushed the benchmark index just under minus, while the broad S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 remained in the black. In general, the decline in the number of infections in the USA and the increasing pace of vaccination recently raised some hope during the pandemic. “This makes economic easing more likely,” wrote economist Claudia Windt from Helaba.
To promote the vaccination campaign, the US government has signed a contract with manufacturers Moderna and Biontech cooperation partner Pfizer for 100 million additional corona vaccination doses each. Moderna shares then gained 1.2 percent on the Nasdaq pre-market, but Pfizer and Biontech shares hardly react to the report.
Meanwhile, however, investors are still waiting for progress with the planned economic aid. “In the US, the adoption of the first huge fiscal package under the Biden administration is getting closer,” says Robert Greil, chief strategist at Merck Finck. As BayernLB wrote, the Democrat Nancy Pelosi is hoping to see it passed by the end of the month. In terms of the economy, consumer confidence determined by the University of Michigan is likely to be in focus on Friday.
Walt Disney shares advanced 1.7 percent after the quarterly results. The pandemic continues to weigh heavily on the entertainment group, but due to the booming streaming business, it returned to the black in the first quarter of the business year and exceeded expectations. According to DZ analyst Manuel Müh, the group is on the “slow path back to normal”. By and large, Disney is getting through the crisis well, according to the expert.
Otherwise there were figures from the website service provider VeriSign. These were well received by investors, with shares gaining 4.8 percent before the IPO ./tih/fba
(AWP)
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