By Christiana Sciaudone
Investing.com -- Post-Covid stocks are soaring on news that the world may have an effective vaccine against the coronavirus, which has upended our quotidien lives, destroyed economies and killed more than a million people worldwide.
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) said its experimental vaccine was more than 90% effective, sending shares of the pharmaceutical company up 8%, which was nowhere near beneficiaries like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), whose theaters have been largely empty for months. The theater chain stock rose 59%. AMC is still down more than 50% for the year.
Leisure and travel companies celebrated the news, with Carnival (NYSE:CUK) Corporation up 33%, American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) rising 14% and Six Flags (NYSE:SIX) increasing 21%, on bets that forcing people to stay home for something like eight months is getting old and as soon as it's safe again we'll be out the door. Carnival dropped more than 60% since January, while American Airlines and Six Flags have fallen 55% and 35%, respectively.
The market soared at the open on Monday, with the S&P 500, NASDAQ Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average all hitting records.
Covid plays that had rallied on distance mandates and stay-at-home behavior tumbled. Zoom Video Communications Inc (NASDAQ:ZM), which became the new conference room and classroom as we kept away from each other, fell 15% after hitting a record last month on a more than 700% rally in 2020. Home bike maker Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) dropped 19% after last week reporting better-than-expected results and challenges in keeping up with customer demand.
Other vaccine makers rose, including Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), up 7%, and Johnson & Johnson, higher by 2%.