Wednesday, 09 Dec 2020 07:10 AM MYTNEW YORK, Dec 9 — Wall Street stocks shook off early weakness and finished at fresh records again yesterday, boosted by progress on coronavirus vaccines and anticipation of stock offerings by Airbnb and DoorDash.
Sentiment has been boosted by major Covid-19 vaccine announcements that have lifted confidence about the potential for a strong economic recovery in 2021, and offset worries about the near-term pain as the US contends with soaring coronavirus case counts that have led to new restrictions. Also Tuesday, AstraZeneca became the first Covid-19 vaccine maker to publish final-stage clinical trial data in a scientific journal, confirming the vaccine works in an average of 70 per cent of cases.
“Whenever you have companies that people use in their daily life, that usually draws interest from retail investors,” said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade.Elsewhere, the pound slumped for a second day running amid ongoing uncertainty over post-Brexit trade talks.