The Covid-19 vaccine makers' shares soared Friday as fears over a new, possibly vaccine-resistant variant of coronaviruses sent shock waves through global markets and triggered new travel restrictions around the world.
There is a new coronaviruses variant in South Africa.
The images are from the same source.
Moderna, BioNTech and Pfizer, which make some of the most widely used coronaviruses in the western world, saw their shares jump on Friday morning.
Novavax, Inovio Pharmaceuticals, and Vaxart all saw their shares jump after the trials or review of their products.
According to the report, oil prices fell more than 10%, their biggest one-day drop since spring 2020 and the asset's worst day of the year.
The S&P 500 fell 2%, the worst day of the year for the index, after the news of the new variant.
Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's HSI both dropped more than 2.5%, while France's CAC40 and Germany's DAX all fell by between 3.6% and 4.9%.
The yield on the U.S. 10 year treasury notes fell to 1.5% from 1.64% before Thanksgiving, which helped safe haven assets.
The discovery of a new variant of coronaviruses in South Africa this week sparked worldwide concern that it could cause new outbreaks and hamper efforts to contain the virus. The variant has a high number of mutations, including more than 30 on the spike protein, which is used in many vaccines. It could be more transmissible than other versions of the vaccine and evade the immunity it gives. The World Health Organization has convened a meeting to discuss the new strain and governments around the world have moved swiftly to bar travel from parts of the south African region. It has been found in parts of Africa, Asia and Europe, and it appears to be replacing the delta variant and driving a dangerous surge of infections in South Africa.
The new variant of the vaccine is being explored by BioNTech. The company said in a statement that it expects more data in two weeks.
Travel restrictions, stocks down, and what to know about the new highly modified covid variant.
Scientists are on alert because of a heavily mutated coronaviruses variant.
Coverage and live updates on the coronaviruses.
