Monday's Market Minute: Equities Surge On Positive Vaccine News

Equity index futures are charging right out the gate this week on positive news about Pfizer Inc.’s PFE COVID-19 vaccine.

Small-caps, in particular, are seeing the most strength, with Russell 2000 futures trading limit up for a 7% gain. S&P and Dow futures are also looking strong as they push into new all-time highs, while the Nasdaq is languishing and up less than 1% as work-from-home tech names like Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM slide on the vaccine news. Still, the /NQ is only about 3% off its all-time highs from early September and also managed to push above October’s highs during the overnight session.

VIX futures are also pointing to lower volatility in the cash open, with the /VX contract down over 7% in overnight trading and slipping below 25. This price level frequently has been a floor since September, so it will be interesting to see if markets calm enough to convincingly deflate the index below this level.

Additionally, consider that the VIX at 25 is still quite high relative to the index’s readings during the past eight years, suggesting more choppy price action (and opportunities) could be in the works for traders.

Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay