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| - Major stock markets surged higher Monday after Moderna announced its experimental Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be 94.5 percent effective according to early trial results, sparking fresh hope of a return to normality, dealers said. "This positive interim analysis from our Phase 3 study has given us the first clinical validation that our vaccine can prevent COVID-19 disease, including severe disease," said Stephane Bancel, Moderna's chief executive. European equities accelerated gains on the news, which came a week after Pfizer and BioNTech sparked a stock market boom by announcing that their Covid-19 vaccine candidate had proven 90 percent effective. In afternoon trading, London stocks were up by 2.0 percent. In the eurozone, Frankfurt added 1.3 percent and Paris soared by 2.4 percent, while Madrid and Milan jumped 3.4 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively. As trading began in New York, the Dow Jones index climbed 1.3 percent. Oil prices also shot higher. "Just as their initial dose of vaccine bullishness appeared to be waning, the markets got another injection of good news this Monday," Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell told AFP. "One-upping BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna has claimed its preparation is nearly '95 percent effective' after a trial involving 30,000 Americans. "As with Pfizer, there is still a way to go before Moderna's vaccine is approved. However, investors were only thinking about the long-term, flashing forward to the end of this nightmare." World oil prices soared by more than 3.5 percent as the Moderna news stoked hopes of a recovery in energy demand. Stock markets were already staging a rally on bright economic data and last week's Pfizer vaccine as they waited on Moderna's expected announcement. Equities also bounded higher after US President-elect Joe Biden's team pledged not to impose an economically damaging nationwide lockdown to contain the virus, which has now infected more than 11 million Americans In addition, traders cheered the signing of the world's biggest free-trade deal by 15 Asia-Pacific countries -- including Japan and China -- that covers about a third of the world's gross domestic product. "The recent growth points towards the fact that Asia is now well and truly on the path to recovery, with China in particular, showing great resilience as Beijing revealed its factory output had risen faster than expected,"said Sun Global Investments head Mihir Kapadia. In Asia, Tokyo jumped more than two percent on news that the world's third biggest economy had surged out of recession in the third quarter, growing by a forecast-beating five percent owing to a pick-up in domestic demand and exports. London - FTSE 100: UP 2.0 percent at 6,443.09 points Frankfurt - DAX 30: UP 1.3 percent at 13,249.61 Paris - CAC 40: UP 2.4 percent at 5,509.37 Madrid - IBEX 35: UP 3.4 percent at 8,045.60 Milan - FTSE MIB: UP 2.2 percent at 21,366.77 EURO STOXX 50: UP 1.8 percent at 3,492.46 New York - Dow: UP 1.3 percent at 29,851.25 Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 2.1 percent at 25,906.93 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.9 percent at 26,381.67 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 1.1 percent at 3,346.97 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1830 from $1.1834 at 2200 GMT Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3192 from $1.3189 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 104.58 yen from 104.63 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 89.63 pence from 89.73 pence West Texas Intermediate: UP 4.1 percent at $41.78 per barrel Brent North Sea crude: UP 3.7 percent at $44.36 per barrel burs-rfj/wai/rl
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