Yahoo Finance Investment platform sees 'record-breaking day' following COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough
The UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, interactive investor, said it experienced a “record-breaking” day on Monday after news of Pfizer’s (PFE) COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough sent markets on a tear, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Despite Novacyt (NCYT.L) losing almost half of its value following the Pfizer news, it ranks third on the most traded shares list behind Rolls Royce (RR.L) (which is in first position) and British Airways owners IAG (IAG.L) (in second place).
“An extremely buoyant and positive market session, which saw interactive investor break its previous trading records, was enough to tempt ii customers into profit taking,” said Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, in a company statement.
READ MORE: European markets find calm after frantic rally on COVID-19 vaccine news
The euphoric rise of global stocks on Monday was followed by a more modest rally on Tuesday as optimism surrounding vaccines extended to other pharmaceutical firms that will be announcing their COVID-19 vaccine testing results in the days and weeks ahead, including Moderna (MRNA) and J&J (JNJ).
Further, the US Food and Drug Administration gave Eli Lilly (LLY) the first emergency use authorisation for a COVID-19 antibody treatment on Monday. The drug helps keep patients out of the hospital. The company’s stock rally extended well into after-hours trading, and is expected to continue.
Despite the strong market rally, “we’re not out of the woods yet, and the road to recovery could be bumpy” said Myron Jobson, personal finance campaigner at interactive investor.
“While market volatility could present an opportunity to profit over the short-term, long-term investors must think in terms of years or decades,” said Jobson.
“A well-diversified portfolio should help you successfully navigate economic uncertainty and market volatility and give the best possible chance of generating a positive outcome whatever the market throws at us.”
Watch: How does the Oxford vaccine differ to Pfizer’s?
