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| - Wall Street stocks were back in rally mode early Tuesday as another coronavirus vaccine moved closer to approval, while markets monitored ongoing US stimulus talks. The US Food and Drug Administration released a positively-worded briefing document about the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, a strong sign that a group of experts that meets in two days could vote to approve it just days after the agency cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent at 29,991.79. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.7 percent to 3,673.02, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 12,538.65. Markets have repeatedly hit records in recent weeks on expectations for strong economic growth once coronavirus vaccines are broadly deployed. Tuesday's gains were a reversal from Monday's session, when New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio warned the city could shut down again due to spiking Covid-19 cases, and the US death count hit 300,000. US lawmakers on Monday introduced a pair of stimulus proposals costing $908 billion that have the support of Democratic and Republican lawmakers, reviving an effort that has repeatedly hit roadblocks over the last several months. Among individual companies, Apple jumped 4.2 percent following a Nikkei report that the tech giant plans a 30 percent boost in iPhone production for the first half of 2021. jmb/cs
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