S&P, Nasdaq hit records as Trump kicks off RNC and touts coronavirus treatment hopes

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Trump: Economic recovery looking like a ‘super V’

President Trump makes his first remarks at the Republican National Convention about the economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic in Charlotte, North Carolina.

U.S. equity markets started the week on a strong note as both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit fresh records as President Trump kicked off the Republican National Convention touting the U.S. economic recovery which he described as a "super V."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained as 378 points, or 1.35%, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose by 1% and 0.60%, respectively.

Additionally, investors celebrated Trump's Sunday announcement in which he detailed an emergency authorization to use convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients.

"This is a powerful therapy that transfuses very, very strong antibodies from the blood of recovered patients to help treat patients battling a current infection," Trump said.

The Financial Times also reported that AstraZeneca plc’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is being considered by Trump for fast-track designation in an effort to get an immunization to market ahead of the November election.

Elsewhere on the vaccine front, Moderna Inc. announced enrollment for its Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial, expected to begin in September, crossed the 40% level.

Other drugmakers producing COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including Pfizer Inc., BioNTech SE and Johnson & Johnson were also in focus.

Meanwhile, Apple Inc. surged to record highs as investors raced to beat Monday’s deadline to get in on the 4-for-1 split, which will take place at the close of business on Friday.  Shares closed above the $500 level for the first time.

Tesla Inc. shares hit their own record high after Wedbush said they could hit $3,500 apiece in a bull-case scenario. The electric-car maker will split its stock 5-for-1 at Friday’s close.

In mergers and acquisitions, private-equity firm Blackstone Group Inc. reached a deal to acquire the consumer health-care business of Japanese drugmaker Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for 242 billion Japanese yen ($2.3 billion).

Looking at commodities, gold slipped $6.90 to $1,927.70 an ounce while West Texas Intermediate crude oil tacked on 28 cents to $42.62 a barrel as two storms forced production offline in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.S. Treasurys were little changed with the yield on the 10-year note holding near 0.64%.

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In Europe, Germany’s DAX paced the advance, up 2.36%, while France’s CAC and Britain’s FTSE surged 2.28% and 1.71%, respectively.

Asian markets were higher across the board with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbing 1.74%, Japan’s Nikkei adding 0.28% and China’s Shanghai Composite edging up 0.14%.