Market Drivers – European Session 08-12-2021

During Tuesday’s trading, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded their best days since March, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 492 points, supported by gains in Apple, Salesforce, and American Express. The S&P 500 also posted gains, up 2.1%, and the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite was the outperformer, gaining more than 3%.

Gold prices rose to their highest in a week on Wednesday as the dollar and US bond yields fell and the precious metal received a boost as a safe haven due to tensions related to Ukraine with US consumer price data due later this week.

The price of gold in spot transactions rose 0.4 percent to 1791.40 dollars by 1055 GMT, while US gold futures increased 0.5 percent to 1793.20 dollars.

BioNTech and Pfizer Inc. said Wednesday that three doses of their COVID-19 vaccine have been shown to generate antibodies to the new Omicron variant, in lab tests.

In the first official statement from vaccine producers about the potential efficacy of their doses against Omicron, BioNTech and Pfizer said in a joint statement that two doses of the vaccine resulted in significantly reduced antibody formation, but a third dose of the vaccine increased antibodies by a factor of 25.

The statement added that if necessary, they could produce a vaccine targeting Omicron in particular by March 2022.