By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - European stock markets traded higher Monday as investors react with optimism over the continued progress towards workable coronavirus vaccines.
At 4 AM ET (0900 GMT), the DAX in Germany traded 1% higher, the CAC 40 in France rose 0.8% and the U.K.'s FTSE index climbed 0.3%.
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) announced earlier Monday that the Covid-19 vaccine it has developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford was up to 90% effective in preventing the Covid-19 virus if patients were given an initial half dose, followed by a full dose.
However, a second dosing regimen showed only 62% efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart. The somewhat confused communication of the news has led to AstraZeneca’s stock price falling 1%, even though the Astra/Oxford drug has the significant advantage of being able to be stored without specialist refrigeration equipment.
Moncef Slaoui, head of the U.S. government’s vaccine development effort, named Operation Warp Speed, announced on Sunday that the first Covid-19 vaccine doses could be handed out to key individuals as early as Dec. 11. Germany's health minister Jens Spahn also said he expected vaccinations in Germany to start by the year-end.
This comes after Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), and German partner BioNTech, applied for U.S. FDA emergency drug authorization for their Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, the same day as Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA) announced that it was close to seeking the same approval.
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both have efficacy levels around the 95% mark, but Pfizer's requires storage at extremely low temperatures.
Still, the prospect of a vaccine starting to be distributed before the Christmas holiday period has buoyed investors, even though it will take some time before production levels and supply chains are able to match global demand. Meanwhile, new cases continue to grow and large swathes of public life are curtailed across Europe and the U.S., although France said it will reopen stores before Christmas and the U.K. is expected to announce relaxations of its lockdown measures later Monday. Both countries have registered falling rates of new infections in recent days.
This latest PMI data showed the French and German service sectors were hit hard by the fresh restrictions to contain the coronavirus. The euro-zone composite output index is due later in the session, and is expected to fall to 45.8 in November from 50.0 in the previous month, with the services sector taking the brunt of the hit.
In corporate news, Cineworld (LON:CINE) stock soared 19% after the cinema chain secured a debt reprieve until June 2022 along with $450 million in new loans in a deal to ride out the Covid-19 pandemic.
Additionally, French bank Credit Agricole (OTC:CRARY) jumped 3.7% after its Italian unit launched an offer to buy Italian bank Credito Valtellinese.
Oil prices pushed higher Monday on vaccine and lockdown-relaxation news, along with reports of an attack by Yemeni Houthi rebels on a Saudi Arabian oil installation.
U.S. crude futures traded 1.9% higher at $43.25 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 1.5% to $45.75, near their highest levels since September, having gained over 5% last week.
Elsewhere, gold futures fell 0.2% to $1,868.50/oz, while EUR/USD traded 0.2% higher at 1.1874.