Banks, airlines surge after Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine news

By Julien Ponthus

LONDON (Reuters) – Shares in banks and in the travel and leisure industries surged 10% or more on Monday after Pfizer announced that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective, prompting a major rally in bourses across the world.

Sectors which had been the most hit by lockdowns, travel restrictions and social distancing introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19 made spectacular moves as traders rushed to price what could be a game changer for markets after months of being roiled by the pandemic.

Europe’s banking index <.SX7P> made its biggest one-day jump since the European sovereign debt crisis in 2011, gaining 10.9%. French banks Societe Generale and BNP Paribas led the way, up 18% and 14.5% respectively.

On Wall Street, JP Morgan , Bank of America and Goldman Sachs were all up between 4% and 8% in pre-market trading.

“Let’s just hope the vaccine deniers won’t get in the way, but 2021 just got a lot brighter,” said Neil Wilson, an analyst at Markets.com in London.

European airlines, hard hit by travel restrictions induced by the pandemic, rallied hard, with BA owner IAG , rising close to 40%.

Earlier, Britain’s transport minister Grant Shapps told an online airport industry conference that Britain was making “good progress” with a plan to allow COVID-19 tests to shorten a 14-day quarantine period for those returning from abroad, a change that could help fuel a recover in travel.

U.S. airlines, United and American jumped more than 20% in premarket trading.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index, which was already up after Joe Biden’s victory in the U.S. presidential election, jumped 4.5% to the highest since March. Futures tracking the S&P 500 jumped 4% to record highs, while Nasdaq futures turned negative.

Nasdaq 100 <.NDX> is home to the world’s biggest technology stocks, such as Netflix , Amazon , Apple and most of the companies that benefited from consumers sheltering in place across the world.

A similar trend was observed in Germany with shares in Hellofresh , a clear winner from the lockdowns, among the few stocks losing ground with a 6.4% retreat.

(Reporting by Julien Ponthus, editing by Huw Jones)