The Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech SE received full approval from U.S. regulators Monday, which many public health officials and vaccine experts hope will encourage hesitant populations to get the shot. Pfizer rose $1.21, or 2.5%, to $49.93 and BioNTech climbed $33.42, or 9.6%, to $382.10. The Food and Drug Administration's clearance of the shot for people 16 years and older is the agency's first full approval of a Covid-19 vaccine. The shot was authorized for children as young as 12 years in May. Pfizer, which will sell the vaccine under the name Comirnaty, is now permitted to market the vaccine to doctors, healthcare providers and the general public as it does with other approved products. Some employers such as Walmart Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. are requiring some employees to be vaccinated unless they have approved exceptions. Of the three authorized vaccines in the U.S., only Pfizer had submitted all the required information to the FDA, according to the companies, and analysts expected it to be the first to receive clearance. Moderna Inc. (+7.5%), whose authorized two-dose shot uses similar mRNA technology as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, has said it is still completing rolling data submissions. Johnson & Johnson, whose shot was authorized in February, has said it plans to file for full approval later this year.

On Monday, the Swiss stock market slightly extended the brief recovery from Friday. The SMI gained 0.5 percent to 12,477 points. Among the 20 SMI stocks, there were 18 price gainers and 1 loser, unchanged closed one share. 21.59 (previously: 29.58) million shares were traded. Day winners in the SMI were Richemont (+3.8%) and Swatch (+1.4%). They recovered from recent sharp declines caused by the new wave of Corona pandemic in major Asian markets. Weak Chinese data and Beijing's regulations had put additional pressure on the shares. Other cyclicals such as ABB (+0.5%) and Holcim (+1.1%) were also higher, albeit to varying degrees. In contrast, among the defensive stocks Roche trended unchanged, and Nestle fell slightly. Novartis held up well with a gain of 0.6%. For the share of Cembra Money Bank it went down by 31 percent. Here, news that the cooperation agreement with Migros for the Cumulus Mastercard credit card will end in June 2022 weighed. According to the company's announcement, Migros cooperates with Migros Bank within the group. Cembra expects net profit to be temporarily 10 to 15 percent lower than plan from 2022 due to the termination of the partnership, which triggered the share price slide. Financial stocks benefited from rising yields. Credit Suisse gained 0.9 percent, UBS 0.5 percent. Insurers were also in demand.

European stocks were modestly higher Monday, with oil and mining majors leading the advance on gains in commodities prices. Investor sentiment also received a boost from Asia's rally, with stocks there tracking Wall Street's firmer close on Friday. Investors are largely focused on the Federal Reserve's annual economic policy symposium later this week, awaiting fresh cues on when policy makers may slow bond purchases. Shares of supermarket chain J Sainsbury jumped 12% on reports it will be next in line for a private equity bid after Morrison Supermarkets. American buyout giant Apollo is said to be considering a bid for the U.K.'s second-largest supermarket chain, according to the Sunday Times, a report that neither the supermarket chain nor Apollo commented upon. Tesco also traded higher, last up more than 2%. Shore Capital said the U.K.'s largest supermarket chain isn't too big to be become a takeover target. French biotech company Valneva said it has begun rolling submission for initial approval of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the U.K. Candidate VLA2001 is currently being studied in a Phase 3 trial in the U.K., with results expected in the year's last quarter, Valneva said. In case of positive data, the vaccine could get approval from the U.K. by the end of the year. The U.K. government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine for delivery this year and next, as part of a supply agreement covering a total of up to 190 million doses to 2025, Valneva said. Vonovia said it has offered EUR53 a share for Deutsche Wohnen, valuing its German rival at EUR19 billion and confirmed it would be its final attempt to buy the company. The real-estate company had already said earlier this month that it had agreed with its German rival to launch the new offer after failing in July to reach the minimum acceptance threshold of 50% from Deutsche Wohnen's shareholders when the offer price was at EUR52 a share.

U.S. stocks edged up Monday, boosted by technology stocks and full approval for Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccine. The S&P 500 ticked up 37.86 points, or 0.9%, to 4479.53, led by energy, industrials and technology. The Nasdaq climbed 227.99 points, or 1.5%, to 14942.65, a record close. The last time Nasdaq rose more than 1% on consecutive trading days was the three trading days ending April 5. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 215.63 points, or 0.61%, to 35335.71. Shares of ride-hailing firms declined after a California judge said a measure that sought to continue treating their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees is unconstitutional. Uber Technologies rose $1.05, or 2.7%, to $41 and Lyft edged up $1.35, or 2.9%, to $47.24. On the economic front, a gauge of existing-home sales surprised to the upside in July. Due to the impact of the Delta variant, Goldman Sachs economists lowered their real U.S. gross-domestic-product growth forecast to 6% for 2021. Oil prices rebounded, with Brent crude advancing $3.57 a barrel, or 5.5% to $68.75, the largest gain since late March. The price of bitcoin rose above $50,000 for the first time since May. It traded around $50,250, an increase of more than 3% from its 5 p.m. level on Friday. PayPal expanded its cryptocurrency services to the U.K. on Monday, allowing its customers in Britain to buy, hold and sell digital assets such as bitcoin on its platform.

On Tuesday, the stock markets in East Asia continue to rise. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index climbs 1.1 percent. Technology and tourism stocks push the Kospi in Seoul, which increases by 1.4 percent. On the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the Composite Index gains 1.0 percent. The containment of the pandemic in China helps the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rise 1.6 percent.

U.S. Treasury yields were little changed Monday as investors recalibrated their expectations for an important speech from a key policy maker later this week, which could provide the clearest insights yet about the timetable and pace of rolling back COVID-era accommodations. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note ticked down to 1.254% from 1.259% at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.

Citi increases Brenntag objective to EUR 100 (90) - Buy
Deutsche Bank raises Adyen target to EUR 2,550 (2,100) - Hold
Jefferies lowers goal Friedrich Vorwerk to 58 (61) EUR - Buy

Produced by MBI Martin Brückner Infosource GmbH & Co. KG on behalf of Swissquote. All news is acquired with journalistic accuracy. No liability is assumed for delays or errors.