Nasdaq Hits Record High, FedEx Soars
While some states have paused or slowed down their reopening plans, investors are largely blowing off the potential slowing of the economic recovery. That's especially true in the technology sector, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is the major beneficiary.
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The index set a new record closing high to kick off July, with the Nasdaq advancing 1% on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, on the other hand, lost 77 points, or 0.3%, as a declining Boeing (ticker: BA) stock dragged the blue-chip benchmark down.
FedEx soars. Shares of FedEx ( FDX) jumped 11.7% on Wednesday, as the logistics giant reported better-than-expected earnings. Not only did it beat the consensus, FedEx walloped it: earnings per share clocked in at $2.53 in the May quarter, breezing by the $1.58 per share analysts expected.
Volume in FedEx Ground deliveries surged 25% year over year, and the spike in business-to-consumer demand ended up being a big enough boost to results that it made up for a slump in business-to-business deliveries.
The report sparked a flurry of analyst upgrades, and FedEx shares were down year-to-date until Wednesday's turnaround.
Promising vaccine candidate? Pfizer ( PFE) and BioNTech ( BNTX) announced positive data from a vaccine candidate study, sending shares of Pfizer higher and causing BNTX to be halted. All 24 of the participants in the study who received two rounds of lower doses developed antibodies at rates higher than or equivalent to people recovering from the virus.
Shares of Pfizer rose 3.2% on the day.
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