Unwilling to learn from past mistakes, the markets got overly excited about Morderna’s covid-19 vaccine, only for the Dow Jones’s optimism to be somewhat punctured on Tuesday night.
A report from Boston Globe Media’s STAT news cast doubt on the success of Morderna’s vaccine trials, not because they necessarily were a failure, but because the company failed to provide the ‘critical information’ to allow the rest of the scientific community to assess the vaccine’s efficacy.
This tamping down of expectations caused the Dow to drop close to 400 points on Tuesday, just less than half of the 1000-point growth seen on Monday.
The Dow’s decline fed into the European session, contributing to the smattering of losses seen after the bell. The FTSE slipped under 6000 following a 0.4% decline, while the DAX and CAC were down 0.6% and 0.7% respectively.
The FTSE likely would’ve been lower if it weren’t for sterling falling 0.4% against dollar and euro alike. This as the UK’s inflation fell from 1.5% in March to just 0.8% in April, the lowest figure since August 2016. Energy prices were one of the most significant drags, with food prices also falling slightly; fast food and toys, on the other hand, saw prices increase as customers look for at-home distractions.
Looking ahead to this afternoon and Europe might be able to shake off the morning’s losses if the Dow Jones comes good on its forecast 175 point increase, one that would lift the index back towards 24400.
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