(Samuel Corum/Bloomberg)
Stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, after U.S. regulators recommended pausing the use of
‘s Covid-19 vaccine as they review rare blood-clotting cases.
The
closed down 68 points, or 0.2%, on Tuesday. The
added 0.3%, to hit a record high, while the
closed up 1.1% after a late-afternoon rally.
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention jointly recommended that states pause distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s (ticker: JNJ) one-dose Covid-19 vaccine. Six recipients in the U.S. developed rare blood clots within two weeks of being inoculated, out of nearly 7 million Americans who have received the shot. Johnson & Johnson stock dropped 1.3%.
The CDC and FDA will continue to review the data and issue an update later this week. In Europe, regulators found similar issues with
‘s (AZN) vaccine, which had been associated with some 200 instances of rare blood clots among the roughly 34 million people who had received it. The European Union’s health regulator determined that the benefits of
‘s vaccine outweighed the risks.
Still, the delay on the vaccine front was impacting Tuesday’s trading, with the most reopening-sensitive stocks lagging behind the more pandemic-proof areas of the market. Defensive utilities stocks were the best performers in the S&P 500, closing up 1.2%, while cyclical industrials and financials were among the biggest losers, closing down 0.9% and 0.8%, respectively.
Shares of stay-at-home winner
(ZM) jumped 6.6%, while in-person dependent travel and leisure names like
(AAL) and
(LYV) fell 1.5% and 2.7%, respectively.
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Separately, the U.S. consumer-price index rose 0.6% in March from February, slightly above expectations. It brings the year-over-year inflation rate to 2.6%.
This key U.S. inflation indicator “has emerged as a key focal point for markets given the debates surrounding inflation and its implications for monetary policy moving forward,” said Jim Reid, a strategist at
“Indeed, part of the reason that markets have brought forward their expectations for Fed rate hikes is based around rising inflation expectations that they think the Fed might have to rein in,” Reid said. “There’s a widespread expectation that inflation is set to rise in the coming months, but also a consensus for the most part that this will be a transitory phenomenon, and Fed officials have reiterated that they’ll look through the rise in inflation for this reason.”
“Transient” has been Fed officials’ favorite word when it comes to inflation in 2021, so it’s unlikely that a few months of above-target inflation alone will lead to a shift in monetary policy.
Also Tuesday, data from China have boosted the outlook for the global economic recovery, with the country reporting that its March exports in dollar terms grew 30.6% year-over-year, while import growth surged 38.1%, outpacing expectations of a rise nearer 24%.
But the Shanghai Composite Index still dipped 0.5% on Tuesday. Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lifted 0.2%.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 in London closed about flat on Tuesday, while the CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.4% and Frankfurt’s DAX ticked up 0.1%, to a record high close.
Plus: The Economic Recovery Depends on Getting Women Back to Work. Here’s Why.
The price of Bitcoin rose to touch a record on Tuesday, above $62,000, as the market readies for the initial public offering of Coinbase Global. The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange is set to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday under the ticker “COIN.”
Shares of NovoCure (NVCR) surged almost 50% after the company gave a well-received update on Phase 3 of its trial for a cancer treatment.
Also: The ‘Coinbase Effect’ Shows the Company’s Importance, and How It Could Diminish
(MRNA) shares rose 7.4%, as the halting of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine potentially means greater market share for Moderna.
(FDX) shares ticked up 0.1% after KeyBanc Capital Markets upgraded the stock to Overweight from Sectorweight.
(JBLU) shares rose 1.3% even after Susquehanna upgraded the stock to Positive from Neutral.
(BMY) shares rose 1.5% after Truist upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold.
Shares of
(AGC) jumped 9.9% after the special purpose acquisition company announced a merger with Grab, a ride-hailing, online banking, and payments app with tens of millions of users in Southeast Asia. It’s the highest-valued blank-check deal yet, at nearly $40 billion.
(RBLX) stock jumped 9.4% after the company announced a partnership with
(HAS) for Roblox versions of products including Monopoly and Nerf blasters, and for a Nerf experience on Roblox’s platform.
stock added 1.8%.
(FAST) stock dropped 1.4% after reporting earnings on Tuesday morning. The industrial supplier said it earned 37 cents a share from $1.4 billion in sales in the first quarter, about matching analysts’ estimates.
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