- Shares of companies that benefitted from the pandemic rallied Friday amid the discovery of a new coronavirus variant.
- The stock prices of vaccine makers surged, including
Moderna , Pfizer and BioNTech. - Stay-at-home stock plays like Zoom Video and Peloton also jumped as new lockdowns loom.
Shares of companies that benefitted from the pandemic rallied Friday as the discovery of a $4 in South Africa raised alarms and triggered lockdowns.
The stock prices of vaccine firms surged Friday. $4 soared as much as 25% as of Friday morning, while $4 climbed nearly 8%, and $4 jumped 20%.
BioNTech said it is already studying the new variant, including how it interacts with its vaccine. Along with vaccine partner Pfizer, the German biotech giant said it will be able to ship a new version of their shot within 100 days if deemed necessary, according to a $4.
Stay-at-home stock plays also saw an increase too. $4 rose 11%, and $4 leapt more than 7% after diving earlier on quarterly results that showed user growth had been slowing.
The new variant, B.1.1.529, has been identified mostly in Botswana and South Africa, as well as Hong Kong, according to the World Health Organization.
Some $4 have voiced concerns the high levels of mutation in the virus might make it more infectious and able to inhibit the body's immune response, as Insider $4. For now, there are no sufficient findings to prove this claim.
The WHO and health officials from South Africa, where most of the cases have been detected, are $4 to $4 Friday.
Austria and Slovakia have already imposed lockdowns as cases spike. The Netherlands ordered bars and restaurants to close at 8 p.m., and Belgium imposed a work-from-home mandate for four days a week except for essential workers.
Meanwhile, the UK has $4 from six African countries in response to the alarm, with the EU $4.