By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com - The Dow pared gains into the close on Thursday even as Pfizer halved the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses it plans to ship out this year, denting investor optimism on a faster return to normal for global economies.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.29%, or 86 points, ending the day below the key 30,000 level. The S&P 500 closed flat, while the Nasdaq Composite added 0.23%.
The negative vaccine news offset a rise in major dow component Boeing (NYSE:BA), up about 6%, after Ryanair placed an order for 75 additional 737 MAX airplanes, increasing its order book to 210 jets.
The Federal Aviation Authority ungrounded Boeing's 737 Max, which was involved in two fatal crashes.
The road to redemption for Boeing 737 Max's will continue as other airlines have pledged to fly the jets again.
American Airlines Group (NASDAQ:AAL) said it will fly the Max jets at the end of the year. Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) will fly the planes in the second quarter.
In tech, Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) jumped 16% after its third-quarter results prompted a slew of upgrades from Wall Street analysts.
"The company continues to execute on the longer-term opportunity, with little to no impact from COVID. We’re impressed by customers’ embracing the broader data cloud platform…" Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) said in a note after upgrading its price target on the stock to $265 from $250.
On the economic front, jobless claims fell for the first time in two weeks data. But Jefferies (NYSE:JEF) said the decline this week is "encouraging, but also difficult to trust."
In the week ended Nov. 28, 712,000 people filed for unemployment insurance, down 75,000 from the prior week's upwardly revised 787,000, and lower than the 775,000 claims expected.
In other news, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) jumped 4% after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) hiked its price target on Tesla to $780 from $355 on signs of faster electric vehicles adoption.