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(Reuters) – The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high Thursday, raised by Tesla Inc, while the S&P 500 fell after a report that Pfizer Inc had lowered the target for its COVID-19 vaccine deployment.
Tesla jumped 5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to “buy” ahead of the electric carmaker’s addition to the S&P 500 Index.
Tesla was the most traded stock on Wall Street by value, with around $ 25 billion in shares traded, according to data from Refinitiv, more than double that of Boeing, in second place.
The widely followed S&P 500 fell from all-time highs at the end of the session after the Wall Street Journal reported Pfizer was facing vaccine-related supply chain hurdles, lowering its 1.7% stock.
Progress in developing a working COVID-19 vaccine before the end of the year has driven major Wall Street indices to record highs in recent days. Despite the economic destruction caused by the pandemic, the S&P 500 gained about 13% in 2020.
“It was the news from Pfizer that reduced earlier gains,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
“We’re in a year-end Santa Claus rally, but it’s going to be quiet. Hopes for stimulus are back in the market and it looks like we could get something before the end of the year that the economy desperately needs.
First-time unemployment claims in the United States fell last week, but remained extraordinarily high at 712,000, while a separate survey showed that activity in the US service sector slowed to a six-month low in November.
“I don’t think we’ll see these numbers start to return to normal until we start to see a vaccine roll out,” said Sal Bruno, chief investment officer at IndexIQ. “The market ignores this and says we are looking forward to the first or second trimester and the rollout of the vaccine to the general population.”
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell cited a positive move in Congress’ efforts to reach a compromise on a new coronavirus aid bill, but gave no indication of when such an agreement could be reached.
Boeing Co surged after low cost airline Ryanair ordered an additional 75 737 MAX jets with a list price of $ 9 billion, throwing a commercial lifeline for the beleaguered US aircraft manufacturer.
Six of the 11 S&P 500 sector indices rose, led by a 1% gain in energy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29% to close at 29,969.52 points, while the S&P 500 lost 0.06% to 3,666.72.
The Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.23% to 12,377.18.
The general optimism about vaccines helped raise the S&P 1500 Airlines Index by 4%. Cruise operators Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd both jumped more than 8%.
Cloud security provider Zscaler Inc rose more than 26% after reporting better than expected first quarter revenue and adjusted profit.
Volume on the US stock exchanges was 11.5 billion shares, compared to an average of 11.7 billion over the last 20 trading days.
Rising issues outnumbered NYSE declines by a 2.02 to 1 ratio; on the Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.51 to 1 favored the advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 34 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 174 new highs and seven new lows.
Additional reporting by Shriya Ramakrishnan and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch in New York; Edited by Richard Chang
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