S&P 500 ends at record as stocks rally amid vaccine hopes

DJIA +1.37% SPX +1.36% NAS +1.02%

Stocks scored gains Friday, with the S&P 500 closing at a record as investors cheered progress toward a COVID-19 vaccine, while seeming to look past a continued rise in new cases of the ilness. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, 1.37% rose around 399 points, or 1.4%, to close near 29,480, according to preliminary figures, while the S&P 500 SPX, 1.36% gained around 48 points, or 1.4%, to finish near 3,585, topping its previous record close of 29,551.42 from Sept. 2. The Nasdaq Composite rose around 120 points, or 1%, to finish near 11,829. Stocks were on the rise this week after Pfizer Inc. PFE, +2.87% and BioNTech SE BNTX, +4.30% on Monday announced their COVID-19 vaccine candidate was more than 90% effective in preventing the disease in a trial. The news sparked a rotation away from high-flying tech and internet shares that were seen as beneficiaries of the pandemic into cyclical and small-cap shares that were left behind by 2020's stock-market gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq saw weekly fall of 0.6%, while the more cyclically oriented Dow rose 4.1%. The S&P 500 saw a gain of 2.2%. The Russell 2000, meanwhile, rose around 2.1%.

After a volatile trading week where the market was whipsawed between hopes and fears around the virus, Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O provided the biggest boost to the S&P 500 after its quarterly report showed a work-from-home driven surge in demand. Walt Disney Co DIS.N also rose as its rapidly growing streaming video business, and a partial recovery at its theme parks tempered its quarterly loss. Positive data from Pfizer's PFE.N vaccine study earlier this week had prompted a rotation into the cyclical sectors, boosting the S&P 500 .SPX and Dow .DJI.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC, however, underperformed as investors booked profits in technology stocks, which have benefited from a stay-at-home environment. Globalt's Martin also pointed to hopes for news of more coronavirus vaccine progress, after Moderna Inc MRNA.O said earlier this week that it had enough data for a first interim analysis of its late-stage trial. With third-quarter reports released from about 90% of S&P 500 companies Refinitiv IBES estimates now show profits falling 7.8% from last year compared with an Oct. 1 expectation for a 21.4% slump.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/sp-500-ends-at-record-as-stocks-rally-amid-vaccine-hopes-2020-11-13

https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-stocks/us-stocks-wall-st-closes-higher-as-upbeat-cisco-and-disney-results-help-fuel-optimism-idUSL1N2HZ2HU

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