Europe midday: Shares cut gains as AstraZeneca vaccine rally fizzles out
European shares pared back early gains on Monday after positive news from a third Covid-19 vaccine had boosted investor hopes.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.14% at 1150 GMT, having been almost 1% higher in the morning session. Other bourses followed suit and US futures showed the Dow Jones opening 160 points higher.
News from AstraZeneca that its vaccine, developed along with the University of Oxford, could be around 90% effective under one half dose had spurred the market, but shares in the pharma firm fell as investors noted the 70% headline efficacy figure, which was lower than that from rivals Moderna and Pfizer.
“In relative terms one can understand why AstraZeneca’s result only triggered a shrug of the shoulders from investors. However, a 70% result is still positive for helping society return to normal and there are significant cost and storage benefits with the AstraZeneca jab.," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
The positive news spilled over to travel and leisure stocks, with TUI up 6.6%, easyJet 5.8%, Deutsche Lufthansa 4.72% and International Airlines Group almost 5.7%.
Oil producers were also higher, boosted by a rise in crude, with Repsol, BP and Shell all higher.
Atlantia shares rose more than 3% after the infrastructure group’s motorway unit Autostrade per l’Italia put forward a fresh proposal for a new tariff system in an attempt to break a deadlock with the Italian government over the company's handling of the Genoa bridge collapse in 2018 that killed 43 people.