Stocks Pare Rally Amid Anxiety Over Stimulus Size: Markets Wrap
- McConnell calls for smaller package after Pfizer vaccine data
- Pfizer’s Covid shot prevents 90% of infections in large study
Stocks pared gains on concern that lawmakers will pass a smaller stimulus package after encouraging developments on the coronavirus vaccine front. Treasuries tumbled.
The S&P 500 moved away from record levels after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress should pass only a limited bill before the end of 2020. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve warned that asset prices in key markets could take a hit if the pandemic’s economic impact worsens in coming months. The benchmark gauge still closed at its highest in two months amid strong trading volume on news the Covid-19 shot being developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE prevented over 90% of infections. The Nasdaq 100 fell amid a selloff in giants such as Amazon.com Inc. and Netflix Inc. Highlighting the rotation from big tech, an equal-weight measure of the S&P 500 had its best day ever relative to the cap-weighted index.