Zoom video call laptop
Vadym Pastukh/Dreamstime
Shares of stay-at-home stocks such as Zoom Video Communications and vaccine makers like Moderna were rising sharply in premarket trading Friday as concerns over a new variant of Covid-19 rocked global stock markets.
Zoom Video (ticker: ZM), the videoconferencing company, rose 7.7% to $224.29 in premarket trading. Peloton (PTON), the maker of internet-connected stationary bikes, was rising 4.6% to $45.93.
Both stocks have slumped this year amid concerns of slowing growth. They rose sharply during the pandemic but have since turned lower as people have been slowly going back to offices and gyms have reopened.
Moderna (MRNA), the Covid-19 vaccine developer, was up 8.6% to $296.95. Fellow vaccine maker Pfizer (PFE) rose 5.6%. BioNTech (BNTX) was up 7.3%.
Pfizer and BioNTech also were rising after the European Medicines Agency said Thursday that it recommends the use of the companies’ Covid-19 vaccine for children aged from 5 to 11.
Fears surrounding a new, heavily mutated variant of Covid-19 were shaking investor confidence and slamming stock markets on Friday.
Futures linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 750 points, or 2.1%, S&P 500 futures declined 1.62% and Nasdaq futures tumbled just under 1%.
Write to Joe Woelfel at [email protected]
