InvestNow News – 29th May – ANZ Investments – The Weekly Snapshot
Global equity markets recorded solid gains last week as optimism rose over the easing of lockdowns and some hopes on the COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine front. For the week, in the US, the S&P 500 rose around 3%, while tech stocks continued to outperform with the NASDAQ gaining nearly 3.5%. Meanwhile, in Europe, the FTSE rose 3.3%.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 ended a three-week winning streak, ending the week down around 0.5%.
What’s happening in markets
There was some positive news on the coronavirus vaccine front last week when on Monday, pharmaceutical company Moderna said results of its Phase 1 clinical trial showed patients had developed neutralising antibodies. The results were promising enough that the US Food and Drug Administration approved a Phase 2 trial, which the company said will begin shortly.
In a press release, Dr. Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer at Moderna said: “These interim Phase 1 data, while early, demonstrate that vaccination with mRNA-1273 elicits an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection.”
It should be noted, the Moderna vaccine results have yet to be peer-reviewed.
Elsewhere, British drug maker AstraZeneca received US$1 billion in funding for its vaccine project.
Economic data continued to come in on the weaker side. In the US, jobless claims came in at 2.4 million and both existing home sales and housing starts data were worse than expected.
In Japan, growth data showed the economy fell into recession with GDP falling 3.4% on an annualised rate in the first quarter of 2020, this following a decline in the final quarter of 2019.
And in New Zealand, retail sales fell 0.7% in the first quarter of 2020, with big drops in accommodation and motor vehicles, while there was a big jump in supermarket and alcohol sales.