The major stock markets in the United States (US) closed Wednesday’s trading session higher with S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 hitting all-time highs. Investors reacted to pharmaceutical industry positive advances on the progress of their vaccines and the ongoing booster jabs.
The Dow Jones was up 0.11% at the closing bell with American Express growing by 3.05%, while the S&P 500 gained 0.22%. The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.7% led by Okta jumping by 5.32%.
Amidst the In the midst of a delta variant surge, Johnson and Johnson claimed in a company press release that a new study finds that giving a booster dose of its shot six months after primary vaccination results in a nine-fold increase in protection.
Pfizer requests full US approval for booster shot
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said on Wednesday they have requested full approval for a booster COVID-19 shot in the United States for people who are older than 16 years.
According to an official statement, the two companies began a rolling Biologics License Application with the Food and Drug Administration for the third vaccine dose, with the application submission likely completed this week.
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine received earlier this week full approval from the US health regulators for use in all populations above 16 years old.
Moderna completes submission for full vaccine approval
Moderna Inc. said on Wednesday that it has completed the rolling submission process for full approval to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Americans 18 years of age and older.
The Biologics License Application (BLA) submission is the first in the history of the company, CEO Stephane Bancel pointed out.
“In final analysis of Phase 3 COVE study data, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine showed 93% efficacy, with the efficacy remaining durable through six months after administration of the second dose,” the company noted. Moderna has delivered more than 300 million doses to the US government so far under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted by the FDA in December 2020.
Salesforce Q2
Salesforce.com Inc. said on Wednesday that its second-quarter revenue annually surged 23% to reach $6.34 billion with net income landing at $535 million.
“With companies and governments around the world continuing to accelerate their digital transformations, we delivered our fifth phenomenal quarter in a row,” CEO Marc Benioff noted in the report.
Commenting on the outlook, Salesforce increased its full-year guidance saying it now expects growth of up to 24%.
Alibaba expands AliExpress services in Brazil
Alibaba Group announced on Wednesday that its online marketplace AliExpress is expanding its services in Brazil.
AliExpress recently launched an online portal for Brazilian merchants which will help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country to handle local transactions as more shoppers move to online stores amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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