ROSEMONT, IL – SEPTEMBER 3: An American Airlines jet is seen in the air preparing to land September 3, 2004 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in Rosemont, Illinois. American Airlines announced December 10, 2004 that they will be raising domestic airfares $10 for round-trip and $5 for one-way trips due to jet fuel expense. (Photo by Tim Boyle/Getty Images)
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Shares of airline companies blasted off Monday, after upbeat news on a potential COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE gave investors hope for a quick recovery in business and leisure travel.
The U.S. Global Jets exchange-traded fund JETS, -1.38% shot up 18.9% in premarket trading, putting it on track to open at the highest price seen during regular-session hours in five months.
The air carrier rally comes amid a big surge in the broader stock market, with futures YM00, +5.43% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.23% soaring nearly 1,500 points, or 5.3%. See Market Snapshot.
American Airlines Group Inc.’s AAL, -1.20% stock paced the sectors gainers, rocketing 23.8% toward a three-month high on volume of about 11 million shares.
Among other more-active air carrier shares, United Airlines Holdings Inc. UAL, -1.89% ran up 17.1%, Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL, -1.75% powered up 18.1%, Spirit Airlines Inc. SAVE, -1.44% surged 21.1%, Southwest Airlines Co. LUV, -2.53% hiked up 15.7% and JetBlue Airways Corp. JBLU, -1.51% rallied 18.0%.
Earlier, Pfizer PFE, +0.02% and BioNTech BNTX, said their COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 achieved “success” in the first interim analysis from a Phase 3 study, as it was found 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in trial participants without previous evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Airlines had been among the hardest hit sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although travel has steadily increased since April, a recent surge in new cases has led to new lockdowns in Europe and raised fears of similar moves in the U.S.
The Jets ETF has gained 6.6% over the past three months through Friday, but was still down 43.7% year to date. In comparison, the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.02% has tacked on 4.7% the past three months and has advanced 8.6% this year.
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