By Oliver Gray
Investing.com - U.S. Stock futures moved slightly higher in early APAC trade on Tuesday, following a positive close in the previous session that saw the major benchmarks trading at record highs as risk appetite was boosted after the Food and Drug Administration’s move to grant full approval to Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine.
During regular trade on Monday, the S&P 500 added 5.06 points or 0.11% to 4479.54, touching an intraday record high. The NASDAQ Composite gained 227.99 points or 1.55% to hit a record closing high of 14942.65. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 215.61 points or 0.61% to 35335.7.
Among stocks, technology related companies outperformed during regular trade, with Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc Class C (NASDAQ:GOOG) lifting 1.03%, 1.11% and 1.92% respectively Meantime, Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) surged 2.48% and 9.58% respectively after the company’s vaccine was granted full approval by the FDA, while Pfizer also announced a US$2.3 billion deal to buy cancer drug maker Trillium Therapeutics.
Ahead in the week, market participants will be focused on any new clues on the Fed's tapering plan at the annual symposium held in Jackson Hole, with Chairman Jerome Powell scheduled to speak on Friday.