Wall Street's main indexes rose on Monday with the Nasdaq at a fresh intraday record high as investors cheered signs of progress in COVID-19 vaccine development and an upbeat start to the second-quarter earnings season by PepsiCo.

Shares of German biotech firm BioNTech jumped 19.6% and Pfizer Inc  climbed 4.2% as two of their experimental coronavirus vaccines received the U.S. FDA's “fast track” designation.

The S&P 500 is about 5% below its own record high hit in February. At 11:15 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 399.92 points, or 1.53%, at 26,475.22, the S&P 500 was up 41.46 points, or 1.30%, at 3,226.50. The Nasdaq Composite was up 187.18 points, or 1.76%, at 10,804.62.

Source : Reuters