Moderna stocks rise as China’s Covid cases surge

Shares of Moderna Inc. stepped higher on Monday’s extended trading as China battles its worst Covid outbreak since 2020.

The biotechnology company increased by 1.89% or 2.83 points to $152.90 per share. It followed a gain of 8.59% or 11.87 points to $150.07 per share.

The firm’s stock had surged nearly 20.00% in the morning, hitting an intraday high of $166.75 per share. Accordingly, Moderna now stands firmly with a market capitalization of $60.48 billion.

The upturn came after investors feared that the pandemic would drag on, which could drive demand for future vaccine orders.

Subsequently, major Chinese cities have placed tighter restrictions on business activity to fight the outbreak, driven by the omicron coronavirus variant.

Shenzhen, the central tech hub in southern China, required companies to halt all non-essential activities. The government also asked firms to have employees work from home if possible.

Eventually, Changchun, the largest automobile manufacturing center in the country, has entered a lockdown. With this, Toyota and Volkswagen have suspended production in the area.

In Shanghai, a global financial hub, schools returned to online classes. Local authorities told residents not to leave the city unless necessary.

Currently, Beijing uses a strict zero-Covid strategy with harsh measures to eradicate outbreaks quickly.

On Monday, the world’s second-largest economy posted a total of 3,507 domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms.

Notably, the record doubled up from the prior number of 1,337 a day earlier. This spike of infections triggered concerns that the pandemic would take longer to resolve than expected.

In the stated case, Moderna expects at least $19.00 billion in vaccine sales for 2022.

Moderna’s trial for HIV vaccine begins

Moreover, the upward movement of Moderna benefited from the start of its clinical trial of the experimental human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) trimer mRNA vaccine.

The firm explained that the open-label, multicenter, randomized Phase 1 trial would assess the safety and immunogenicity of the shot.

The Division of AIDS of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases sponsored the first test run. This will include approximately 100 HIV-negative adults aged 18 to 55 years old.

Notably, Moderna outperformed some of its competitors. For instance, Pfizer added 0.48% or 0.25 points to $52.50 per share after-hours.

Likewise, BioNTech climbed 0.91% or 1.38 points to $153.30 per share. Then, Johnson & Johnson rose 0.005% or 0.01 points to $171.70 per share.

Further, Novavax edged higher 0.78% or 0.56 points to $72.49 per share.

Read also: Vlom review | Is it a good Forex broker?