U.S. Stocks Reached Great Results Ahead of Fed’s Conference 

U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday thanks to the information that U.S. regulators granted full approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid vaccine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30.55 points or less than 0.1% to 35,366.26. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 rose 0.1% to a new closing high of 4,486.23. 

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.5% to close at 15,019.80, also a new closing high. Chinese stocks led the Nasdaq Composite as investors learn more about China’s regulatory outlook. Shares of Pinduoduo advanced 22.2% while JD.com rose 14.4%, Tencent Music Entertainment gained 12.7%, and Baidu rose 8.6%.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will demand U.S.-traded Chinese companies disclose political and regulatory risks to investors according to SEC’s chairman Gary Gensler.

Shares of vaccine makers suffered losses on Tuesday. Shares of Pfizer as well as BioNTech fell more than 3% each, while Moderna dropped 4.1%. On Monday, shares of Trillium Therapeutics jumped more than 180% on news it would be acquired by Pfizer. On the following day, its shares dropped 0.6%.

U.S. stocks and the Fed’s annual conference 

Travel stocks extended their rally, with a number of airline and cruise stocks rising on Tuesday. Macau made the decision to relax travel restrictions with the improvement of the Covid-19 outlook in Guangdong province. Macau’s decision helped to boost the shares of casino operators Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts. 

Furthermore, shares of Best Buy jumped 8.3% after the electronics retailer surpassed estimates on the top and bottom lines for the second quarter. 

The second-quarter earnings season is coming to an end, as more than 90% of S&P 500 companies reported results. The S&P 500 has the chance to grow its earnings by 94.7% year over year. 

The markets were relatively quiet on Tuesday as investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole. But meme stocks jumped on Tuesday. Shares of meme GameStop rose 27% as some retail investors came back in full force despite an otherwise quiet market. Its shares surged as much as 36.5% to $325 apiece in heavy trading volume. 

Other meme stocks also reached good results. On Tuesday, shares of AMC Entertainment advanced 20.3%. Moreover, Clover Health rose nearly 10%, and Bed Bath&Beyond jumped more than 4%.  Let’s not forget about Robinhood. It also earned a meme stock status and its shares advanced 9% on Tuesday on no apparent news.