Stocks Rally On New COVID-19 Vaccine News, Bitcoin Extends Gains

On Monday, the stock market was once again fuelled by new COVID-19 vaccine news while bitcoin (BTC) has eventually extended its gains also. (Updated at 17:49 UTC to add the latest BTC price information).

US-based Moderna Inc. said its vaccine was 94.5% effective in a preliminary analysis of a large late-stage clinical trial, compared with 90% in the case Pfizer and BioNTech SE. Moderna shares rose 12% in pre-market US trading, while in Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index was up 1.4%, according to Bloomberg data.

BTC was slow to react to the news, trading at around USD 16,300 before it jumped above USD 16,700 several hours later. At pixel time (17:48 PM UTC), USD 16,713 and is up by 5% in a day and 10% in a week. The price rallied by 46% in a month and 92% in a year.

After the Pfizer announcement on November 9, BTC, initially, turned red following the news, later trimming its losses.

A preliminary analysis of data from more than 30,000 volunteers showed Moderna’s vaccine prevented virtually all symptomatic cases of COVID-19. “Preliminary analysis suggests a broadly consistent safety and efficacy profile across all evaluated subgroups,” the company added.

Moderna intends to submit for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the US Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks and anticipates having the EUA informed by the final safety and efficacy data (with a median duration of at least 2 months). Moderna also plans to submit applications for authorizations to global regulatory agencies.

“This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease,” Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, was quoted as saying in the press release.
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