S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs on vaccine optimism

S&P 500 and Nasdaq close at record highs on vaccine optimism

(Reuters) - Indexes S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Tuesday as investors gambled on coronavirus vaccine coming soon.

Good data on manufacturing activity in the PRC has increased hopes for a quick economic recovery after the pandemic.

Investors are closely watching vaccine news and global shipments as pharmaceutical companies apply for regulatory approvals.

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) Inc shares rose nearly 3% following news that a pharmaceutical company with Germany's BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX) SE has approached a European regulator for an emergency approval for their COVID-19 vaccine.

Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) Inc said Monday that it has applied for an emergency authorization for the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in the US after full late-stage trial results showed 94.1% efficacy without any major concerns about her safety.

"There is this optimism about what it means when vaccine news comes out", - said Bill Northey of the U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

"We are awaiting a health care decision, and perhaps we are sitting on a tight spring of economic activity, but it may take some time before it unfolds.".

The growth of business activity in the manufacturing sector of the PRC in November reached a ten-year peak amid the continuing recovery of the country's economy, a private study showed on Tuesday..

The Dow Jones closed with an increase of 0.63% to 29.823.92 points, the S index&The P 500 rose 1.13% to 3.662.45 points, while the Nasdaq climbed 1.28% to 12.355.106 points.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin on Tuesday called on Congress to provide more aid to small businesses amid the intensifying coronavirus pandemic.

Slack Technologies fell 1% in over-the-counter trading after Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) Inc agreed to buy the corporate messenger operator for $ 28 billion. Salesforce shares fell 3.5%.

Zoom Video Communications Inc Shares Down 15% After Company Warning That Its Gross Margin Will Remain Under Pressure In Early 2021.

(Noel Randevich, with contributions from Sri Ramakrishnan and Medhi Singh in Bangalore. Translated by Elizaveta Zhuravleva. Editor Marina Bobrova)