Markets Spike as Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Shows 90% Success Rate

Both bitcoin and U.S. stock futures shot up on Monday after a U.S. pharmaceutical giant announced positive results from a large-scale clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine.

Risk appetite improved as Pfizer said its experimental vaccine has been 90% effective in preventing infections in the ongoing trial, Bloomberg reported. The news raises hopes that there may soon be an effective treatment for COVID-19, which is again running rampant through regions such as the U.S. and Europe.

CoinDesk data shows that as the news broke, bitcoin jumped from $11,500 to $11,840 in the 15 minutes to 12:00 UTC. That came as the futures tied to the S&P 500 surged over 100 points to reach a record high of $3,648, and Dow Jones futures rose 1,500 points.

Gold, meanwhile, fell from $1,950 to $1,900 as investors sold safe-haven assets amid the rally on Wall Street.

The coronavirus pandemic brought the global economy to a near standstill in the second quarter and its recent resurgence is threatening to derail the fragile economic recovery. The vaccine news, therefore, bodes well for growth-sensitive stocks and other risky assets.

While the S&P 500 futures continue to trade near record highs, bitcoin has erased gains to trade near $10,500.

The cryptocurrency’s rally from October lows below $10,500 has stalled below $16,000 over the past couple of days, but, on Sunday, a weekly close above last year’s high opened the door for a continued rally, possibly to a record high.