US S&P 500 Index

The S&P 500 edged 0.2% higher on Wednesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, after the Treasury’s surprise decision to increase long-dated bond buybacks helped pull the 30-year yield ~10bp lower to 5.18%. A surge in Healthcare—led by Moderna after positive melanoma vaccine data—offset continued weakness in semiconductors, with the Nasdaq 100 falling 0.2% for a fourth straight session.

• Moderna have taken a big step towards pioneering a personalised therapeutic vaccine for melanoma.

Moderna exploded +177% higher on Wednesday, its biggest one-day gain on record, after a Phase 3 trial showed its personalised mRNA cancer vaccine, combined with Merck’s Keytruda, significantly reduced melanoma recurrence compared with Keytruda alone, the first successful late-stage trial for an mRNA-based cancer therapy. The result triggered a broader re-rating of the mRNA oncology theme, sending Merck (+11%), BioNTech (+21%) and Novavax (+8%) sharply higher, while inflicting ~US$5.5bn loss on Moderna short sellers and helping propel Healthcare to a record high.

• We can see the S&P 500 testing 8000 before Christmas with the bullish trend remaining intact despite geopolitical uncertainty.