Fear that the Covid outbreak will drag on and drive demand for future vaccine orders caused shares of the major vaccine makers to rise on Monday.
Moderna's stock rose more than 8% to close at $150.07. The stock of the company surged in the morning to a high of $166.75.
Pfizer jumped 4%, Johnson & Johnson rose 1%, and BioNTech soared 12%. After jumping nearly 15% in the morning to hit a high of $83.25, Novavax turned negative and closed down more than 1% at $71.93.
The vaccine makers' stocks rose even as the broader market fell, with traders watching the impact of the war in Ukraine and anticipating a rate hike by the Federal Reserve this week.
Major cities in China have put restrictions on business activity to fight the outbreak. Shenzhen, a major tech hub in southern China, has told companies to stop all non-essential business activity or have employees work from home, while Changchun in the northeast has entered a lock down. Toyota and Volkswagen have stopped production in Changchun.
Schools have gone back to online classes and officials have told residents not to leave the city unless absolutely necessary. China has a strict zero-covid strategy that uses tough measures to quickly stamp out outbreaks.
According to China's National Health Commission, there were more than 1,400 new Covid infections in mainland China as of Sunday. It is the most in China since March of 2020. No new Covid deaths have been reported by China.
According to analysts at Jeffries, the outbreak in China has made investors fear that the Pandemic will take longer to resolve than expected.
Michael Yee, an equity analyst, wrote in a Monday note thatVaccine makers will continue to trade on global fear of more waves.
While China will likely continue to rely on its domestic vaccine Sinopharm, the outbreak will keep the world on alert and probably drive demand for Moderna's vaccine on the margins, according to the note. Pfizer is estimating $32 billion in revenue for its shots, while Moderna is estimating $19 billion.
In the US, Covid infections continue to decline after an unprecedented surge of infections in December and January. The number of new Covid cases in the U.S. dropped by 25% from the week before, according to a CNBC analysis. The number of new Covid cases in the US peaked on January 15. According to the data, more than 1,200 people are still dying every day from Covid in the U.S., but that is down 9% from the week prior.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 98% of people in the US now live in areas where they don't need to wear facemasks.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
