US open: Stocks trade higher as Covid-19 vaccinations begin in New York
Wall Street stocks opened higher on Monday as market participants grew optimistic about both the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine and some apparent progression in stimulus talks.
As of 1535 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.87% at 30,307.07, while the S&P 500 was 0.83% firmer at 3,693.95 and the Nasdaq Composite came out the gate 1.16% stronger at 12,520.90.
The Dow Jones opened 260.70 points higher on Monday, extending gains recorded in the previous session after the Food and Drug Administration green-lit Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine for use in the USA.
Following the FDA's emergency authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also signed off on the drug, allowing inoculations to officially begin for Americans over the age of 16, with the first dose of the vaccine being administered in New York.
Also in focus, a bipartisan stimulus plan was rumoured to potentially be introduced as soon as Monday, according to Reuters, with $908.0bn to be split into a $748.0bn measure with money for jobless and small business and a further $160.0bn for controversial measures - including liability protections and state aid.
Both the rumoured aid package and the vaccine come as more than 2,300 Covid-19 related deaths were reported on Saturday, following over 3,300 deaths Friday, while new cases topped 219,000 on Saturday.
On the macro front, November's consumer inflation expectations report will be published at 1600 GMT.
No major corporate earnings were slated for release on Monday.