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- US stocks gained on Wednesday as the UK granted emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
- The AstraZeneca vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, doesn’t require extreme cold temperature storage and is one of the most ordered vaccines by countries around the world.
- Watch major indexes update live here.
US stocks rebounded from its Tuesday losses and gained in Wednesday morning trades as the UK granted emergency use authorization to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine was developed in partnership with Oxford University and it doesn’t require the extreme cold temperature storage like other vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer.
The UK is expected to roll out the vaccine to its citizens early next week. The vaccine is one of the most ordered by countries around the world. The US entered a contract for 300 million doses, outpacing the 200 million dose order it secured with Pfizer and Moderna.
A swift rollout of the vaccine could help life strict lockdowns that have been implemented in parts of the UK in recent weeks.
Here’s where US indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Wednesday:
- S&P 500: 3,738.02, up 0.29%
- Dow Jones industrial average: 30,431.84, up 0.32% (96.17 points)
- Nasdaq composite: 12,908.58, up 0.47%
Shares of AstraZeneca jumped as much as 3% following the UK's decision to grant emergency use authorization for the vaccine.
Oil prices were mixed. West Texas Intermediate crude fell as much as 0.44%, to $47.79 per barrel. Brent crude, oil's international benchmark, rose 0.6%, to $51.12 per barrel.
Gold rose as much as 0.4%, to $1,883.80 per ounce.