US market, oil prices soar with vaccine hope, Biden win

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Indexes in the US stock market and the price of crude oil soared Monday, with hopes of a successful vaccine candidate and Democrat Joe Biden becoming president-elect to end uncertainty in 2020 election.

US drugmaker Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech announced earlier Monday that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate is more than 90% effective, which has provided optimism for investors that a remedy for the virus could become available in a few months that has so far infected 50.5 million people and took 1.2 million lives worldwide.

Biden's projected win on Saturday has also put to an end to the uncertainty surrounding the US election, although President Donald Trump has not yet conceded and insists on a legal battle.

During pre-market hours, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were up by 5.2% and 35%, respectively, indicating they will have a strong rally later Monday after US markets open at 9.30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT).

The yield of US 10-year Treasury note skyrocketed to 0.937% at 0820 a.m. EDT (1320 GMT) to mark its highest level since June.

The price of crude oil also gained with the hopes that global oil demand would gradually increase in coming months once the new vaccine starts to be distributed around the world.

Brent crude oil price was at $42.80 per barrel at the same time with a 8.5% gain, while American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $40.63 a barrel with a 9.4% increase.

Precious metals, seen as safe havens during COVID-19 months, took major hits as gold fell to $1,898 per ounce with a 2.6% daily loss and silver declined to $24.6 per ounce with a 3.8% decrease.