FTSE 100 closes higher, Astra jumps on vaccine data, airlines hit, Bitcoin stable By Investing.com

Key Points

• FTSE 100 closing price of 6,726.68, up 0.27%
• AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) shares jump after vaccine data
• Airlines and travel stocks hit turbulence due to Covid third wave fears
• Oil futures trade higher, US air passengers highest in a year
• Bitcoin stable below $60k

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – The FTSE 100 started the week with slight gains, led by AstraZeneca after the company presented vaccine data in the US. The trial met its primary endpoint with 79% efficacy at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy against severe or critical disease and hospitalisation. The jab maker said it will continue to analyse the data and prepare for primary analysis to be presented to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization in the coming weeks.

On the other end of the scale, airlines and other companies in the travel sector were weak after UK Defence Secretary warned that booking trips abroad would be premature and a scientist on the government’s SAGE committee said summer holidays overseas are “extremely unlikely” because of the risk of other variants coming back to the UK. The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said that Europe’s third wave would likely “wash up on UK shores”. IAG (LON:ICAG), easyJet (LON:EZJ), Ryanair Holdings PLC (LON:RYA), Tui AG NA (LON:TUIT) and Carnival PLC (LON:CCL) (NYSE:CCL) all tumbled while Rolls-Royce (LON:RR), whose revenue relies on its engines flying, also saw its share price fall.  

The news all comes amid reports that the EU was considering blocking exports of ingredients for AstraZeneca’s jab to the UK. The European Union has stressed that the UK nor the EU was to blame but it was AstraZeneca’s fault for not fulfilling contractual obligations to deliver vaccine doses within the bloc. Johnson has spoken to leaders in Europe, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Macron in an attempt to stop them from issuing bans but the issue remains unresolved.  

GBP was weak amid the threat from the EU to impose a ban of vaccine exports. The UK’s roadmap out of restrictions is reliant on the population getting vaccinated and GBP has benefitted from the UK’s speedy vaccination programme so far. However, EUR/GBP jumped half a per cent as Europe keeping doses for itself should be EUR positive. The European Council meets on Thursday where they will likely discuss a potential vaccine export ban.

WTI and Brent crude futures eked out small gains, stabilising after the collapse last week that saw prices fall 7%. The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that US air travel passengers rose above 1.5mln on Sunday for the first time since March last year, signs that demand will continue to pick up in the US.

Bitcoin prices were relatively flat with little market moving news from over the weekend. Of note, the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has reportedly delayed its plans to go public which now looks like it will occur in April rather than this month.

Looking ahead

The UK’s Office for National Statistics announces latest labour market figures tomorrow. The unemployment rate is forecast to tick higher to 5.2% from 5.1%. The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is also scheduled to speak tomorrow, as is the Chief Economist Andy Haldane and Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe.