Wall Street closed higher on Friday driven by positive news on the progress of COVID-19 vaccines which could be approved later in the year. Gilead Sciences announced on Friday that its remdesivir anti-viral drug could lower the risk of death among patients by 62% with an improvement in clinical recovery.
At the closing bell, the Dow rose by 389 points driven by JPMorgan stock which rose 5.47% while the S&P 500 was up by more than 1.04 per cent.
The Nasdaq 100 was up slightly as Tesla was up by more than 10% higher even as the stock topped $1500. This saw Elon Musk’s net-worth surpass that of Warren Buffet according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
CEO Elon Musk, who owns about 20% of Tesla earlier on Friday clarified that he will be vesting his stock options under the 10-year compensation plan which has about 12 tranches if the company meets certain milestones.
Meanwhile, British media has reported that the UK government is expected to announce plans to Huawei Technologies from the country’s 5G network. According to the Telegraph newspaper, British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sports Oliver Dowden will make a statement in the House of Commons next Tuesday.