Wall Street Close: Bulls encouraged by covid vaccine progress

The benchmarks battled back and ended higher on Tuesday, with the S&P and Nasdaq setting record highs.

Stocks were lifted, notably in the healthcare sector on positive COVID-19 vaccine news although there were mixed sentiments surrounding fiscal stimulus progress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 104.09 points, or 0.35%, to 30,173.88, the S&P 500 added 10.29 points, or 0.28%, to 3,702.25 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 62.83 points, or 0.5%, to 12,582.77. 

Johnson & Johnson JNJ added 1.73% which helped to underpin the benchmarks with the company announcing that it could obtain late-stage trial results of the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine earlier than expected.

Meanwhile, Pfizer Inc PFE advanced 3.18% as it cleared the next hurdle in the race to get its COVID19 vaccine approved for emergency use.

The US health regulator released documents raising no new safety or efficacy issues.

Elsewhere, a Brexit deal remains elusive. Chance of a deal is slimming with negotiators from both sides acknowledging a deal may not be achieved.

''The next 24 hours will be critical and is likely to cause market volatility depending on what is or isn’t agreed,'' analysts at ANZ Bank explained. 

US data

The analysts at ANZ Bank explained that small businesses optimism in the US fell in November, while Q3 non-farm productivity levels eased and unit labour costs fell.

''While the movements were not drastic, these data all point to a slightly weaker US economy.''

''If wages continue to fall that will be deflationary, however the small business survey showed selling prices were increasing and this data does tend to align with consumer prices.''