By 11:30 a.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was up nearly 450 points, or 1.5 percent, at 29,920. The tech-heavy Nasdaq edged up .64 percent to 11,905, even as investors turned away from tech stocks that have been favorites in the pandemic. Investors flocked back to companies whose stocks have been heavily battered by the pandemic, especially in travel and hospitality. Unlike Pfizer, which invested $2 billion of its own money in researching and developing a vaccine, Moderna is part of Operation Warp Speed, a government initiative designed to erase the financial risk of vaccine and therapeutics development by providing upfront funding to companies and helping coordinate the trials. It is the second major trade pact in two years that excludes the United States.

Source: Washington Post November 16, 2020 14:09 UTC