Credit to CNBC Television
U.S. stock futures dropped in a sudden move after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it’s recommending a pause in the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine after reported cases of blood clotting. CNBC's "Squawk Box" crew report.
U.S. stocks traded mixed on Tuesday after a March inflation report turned out not as bad as some traders feared, but the impact of a halt to the rollout of Johnson & Johnson vaccine kept optimism in check.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 140 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 added 0.1% to reach a new intraday record high. The Nasdaq Composite, the relative outperformer, gained 0.7% as Apple, Amazon and Nvidia all gained at least 1%. Tesla rose 5.2%.
Reopening trades remained under pressure after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it’s recommending a pause in the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after reported cases of blood clotting.
There have been six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot after receiving the J&J vaccine, the FDA said. The administration is calling for a pause in the vaccine until Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concludes its investigation into these cases.
“Until that process is complete, we are recommending this pause,” the FDA said. “This is important to ensure that the health care provider community is aware of the potential for these adverse events and can plan due to the unique treatment required with this type of blood clot.”
Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock said later Tuesday that she expects the pause to last “a matter of days.” More than 6.8 million doses of the single-dose vaccine have been administered in the U.S. J&J shares fell 2.6%.
Jeff Zients, the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, replied that the FDA’s announcement should not have a material impact on the national effort to vaccinate.
“Over the last few weeks, we have made available more than 25 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna each week, and in fact this week we will make available 28 million doses of these vaccines,” he added. “This is more than enough supply to continue the current pace of vaccinations of 3 million shots per day, and meet the President’s goal of 200 million shots by his 100th day in office—and continue on to reach every adult who wants to be vaccinated.”
Still, shares of companies that would be hurt the most if the vaccine rollout slows came under pressure Tuesday morning.
United Airlines stock pulled back 1.3% and American Airlines lost 2.8%. Shares of Moderna, which makes another coronavirus vaccine, jumped 7.7% following the J&J news, which was reported first by The New York Times.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a huge reaction in the market beyond the knee-jerk reaction we’re getting here right now,” said Mike Wilson, chief U.S. equity strategist for Morgan Stanley, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “We’re optimistic, very optimistic that we’re going to be reopened fully in the second half of this year.”
