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  • US stocks moved higher on Friday, closing out back-to-back weekly gains as a post-election rally was boosted by optimism surrounding a successful COVID-19 vaccine despite a record surge in daily cases. 
  • A strong efficacy rate of more than 90% from Pfizer and BioNtech’s COVID-19 vaccine boosted investor hope that a reopening of the economy is likely in 2021.
  • Investor optimism towards a COVID-19 vaccine could spill into next week as President Donald Trump prepares to give a speech on Operation Warp Speed Friday afternoon, and as Moderna is expected to release data on their vaccine candidate as early as next week. 
  • Watch major indexes update live here.

US stocks moved higher on Friday and closed out back-to-back weekly gains as investor optimism towards a COVID-19 vaccine outweighed a record surge in daily virus cases. 

Hopes around a successful COVID-19 vaccine being developed and quickly distributed could spill over into next week as Moderna is expected to release interim data on its vaccine candidate after it said there are enough patients with COVID-19 in the study to allow for analysis of how effective the vaccine candidate is. 

According to Anthony Fauci, there’s a good chance that results from Moderna’s vaccine trial will be positive.

On top of that, President Donald Trump is expected to give a speech on Friday afternoon addressing the status of Operation Warp Speed, a government program meant to help aide and quicken the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

Here’s where US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Friday:

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Stocks opened the week sharply higher, driven by Monday's announcement from Pfizer and BioNtech that their COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated an efficacy rate of more than 90%.

And while investors are putting their focus on a COVID-19 vaccine rather than rising virus cases, consumers not so much, based on consumer sentiment data that registered its first drop in 4 months. 

Outside the US, investor wariness towards China-based companies is on the rise following a report that the highly anticipated Ant Group IPO that was set debut last week was personally pulled by Xi Jinping after Jack Ma made critical comments of government leaders.

On top of that, President Trump signed an executive order late Thursday afternoon that prohibited US investment firms and pension funds from investing in a number of Chinese companies that have ties with its military.

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In corporate news, DraftKings surged after it beat third quarter earnings and said it passed more than 1 million monthly users.

High-flying Nio, a China-based electric vehicle manufacturer, tumbled on Friday after a short-seller report from Citron Research pegged a $25 target on the company, representing potential downside of 48%. 

Oil prices declined. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 2.5%, to $40.09 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, fell 2%, to $42.67 per barrel, at intraday lows.

Gold rose on Wednesday, increasing as much as 1.1%, to $1,896.82 per ounce.

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Read the original article on Business Insider