Today’s full FDA approval of the vaccine boosted market sentiment as an indicator that the vaccination rate could now reach 75% boosting the recovery even more. The Dow leaped 215, the Nasdaq hit a new record up 227 and the S&P closed just shy of a new record itself. The best news is that new economic data today suggested the recovery was on the right path but not doing so well that the Fed would reverse course. And as today’s expert put it, “The fundamentals are in place. There’s worries out there, but it’s hard to keep this market down.”  Volume remains a little below average at 8.6 billion and this probably won’t change until after Jackson Hole.  

MON  AUGUST 23, 2021  4:32 PM

Wall St gains, Nasdaq notches record closing high on full vaccine approval

By Stephen Culp

DJ: 35,120.08  +225.96       NAS: 14,714.66  +172.88       S&P: 4,441.67  +35.87     8/20

DJ: 35,335.71  +215.63       NAS: 14,942.65  +227.99       S&P: 4,479.53  +37.86     8/23

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street rallied on Monday, and the Nasdaq reached an all-time closing high as sentiment was boosted by full FDA approval of a COVID-19 vaccine and market participants looked ahead to the Jackson Hole Symposium expected to convene later this week.  All three major U.S. stock indexes ended the session sharply higher, with the S&P 500 in the session’s final minutes just failing to hold what would have been a record-high close.  Surging crude prices, driven by expected demand growth, putting energy shares out front.

“This has been the script all along,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. “We make new highs, pull back, and then we’re off to the races again.”  “That tells me the fundamentals are in place,” Cardillo added. “There’s worries out there, but it’s hard to keep this market down.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted full approval to the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE in a move that could accelerate inoculations in the United States.  “Full approval means that there’s most likely going to be more mandates, more companies will mandate that you have to get the vaccine in order to get back to the office,” Cardillo said. “I don’t think this will get all the doubters vaccinated but this news today will probably drive (the vaccinated rate) closer to 75%.”  Pfizer and U.S.-listed shares of BioNTech advanced 2.5% and 9.6%, respectively.  Rival Moderna Inc gained 7.5%.

Spiking COVID-19 infections caused by the highly contagious Delta variant have fueled concerns over a protracted recovery from the global health crisis.  For an interactive graphic on worldwide vaccine deployment and access, click here here.

Data released on Monday painted a “Goldilocks” portrait of an economic recovery headed in the right direction, but not enough to warrant a change in the Federal Reserve’s dovish monetary policy, which helped feed investor risk appetite.  Market participants look to the Jackson Hole Symposium, due to convene in Wyoming later this week. The comments of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will be closely parsed for clues regarding the central bank’s policy-tightening timeline.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215.63 points, or 0.61%, to 35,335.71, the S&P 500 gained 37.86 points, or 0.85%, to 4,479.53 and the Nasdaq Composite added 227.99 points, or 1.55%, to 14,942.65.  Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, seven ended the session green, with energy enjoying its best day in nearly two months.

Exxon Mobil Corp and Chevron Corp gained 4.1% and 2.6%, respectively.  U.S.-listed shares of Trillium Therapeutics Inc soared 188.8% after Pfizer agreed to buy the cancer drug developer in a $2.26 billion deal.  General Motors Co fell 1.3% following its announcement that it would take a $1 billion hit to expand the recall of its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 2.46-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.81-to-1 ratio favored advancers.  The S&P 500 posted 57 new 52-week highs and 1 new low; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 108 new highs and 54 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 8.63 billion shares, compared with the 9.15 billion average over the last 20 trading days.