FX.co ★ Dow Jones and S&P 500 close trading near records

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 834.57 points (2.95%) to close the market and amounted to 29157.97 points. This is the maximum close since February. It posted the highest one-day gain since June 5. Earlier in the course of trading, the indicator reached an all-time high, having risen at some point by about 5.7%, or more than 1600 points.

Standard & Poor's 500 increased by 41.06 points (1.17%) and amounted to 3550.50 points. The index also renewed its maximum one-day growth during trading.

It is worth noting that the Nasdaq Composite declined 181.45 points (1.53%) in the afternoon and closed the day at 11,713.78 points.

The optimism of market participants is associated with statements by the American company Pfizer Inc. and Germany's BioNTech on successful trials of a COVID-19 vaccine. Also, optimism can be associated with Joe Biden's victory in the US presidential election. It should also be said that investors are confident that Biden's arrival at the White House will increase the likelihood of a new large-scale package of economic support measures to be taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Against the background of an increase in the number of COVID-19 infections, economists at Goldman Sachs have sharply worsened the forecast for US economic growth in the first quarter of 2021 - to 3.5% from 7% and revised the forecast for European GDP in the fourth quarter of 2020 from 9.1% growth to falling by 8.7%.

Pfizer shares jumped 7.7% in Monday trading. ADR BioNTech rose 13.9%.

Shares of companies in the travel and leisure industry, which have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, also rose sharply. AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. soared 51.4%. Carnival Corp. jumped 39.3%, Royal Caribbean Group jumped 28.8%, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. - by 26.8%. American Airlines Group Inc. added 15.2%, United Airlines Holdings Inc. - 19.2%, Delta Air Lines Inc. - 17%, Spirit Airlines Inc. - 20.5%, Southwest Airlines Co. - 19.7%, JetBlue Airways Corp. - 21.7%.

In addition, the quotes of retailers and banks rose amid hopes for an early return to normal economic activity. Kohl's Corp. share price jumped nearly 20%, then JPMorgan Chase & Co. rose 13.5%, Bank of America Corp. - by 14.2%, Citigroup Inc. - by 11.5%.

At the same time, the shares of companies that benefited from the COVID-19 pandemic fell in price. Netflix Inc. fell 8.6%, Clorox Co. - by 10.6%, Zoom Video Communications Inc. - by 17.4%, Peloton Interactive Inc. - by 20.3%.