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S&P/ASX 200 gains 1.12% as Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine shows 90% efficacy

Published: 13:58 24 Nov 2020 AEDT

Lithium Australia NL - S&P/ASX 200

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) is lifting for a second day, with the index up 1.12% to 6,635 by around 1.55 pm on positive news surrounding COVID-19 vaccine development and progress on the transfer of power to US President-elect Joe Biden.

With just a week left in November, the S&P/ASX 200 is up 11.8% this month and is on track to have the best month in 32 years and best November in over 80 years.

Vaccine hopes

AstraZeneca said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine developed along with the University of Oxford could be around 90% effective under a one-dosing regimen.

The British-Swedish drugmaker's initial trial results mark a fresh breakthrough against a pandemic that has killed nearly 1.4 million people worldwide.

Record iron ore exports

Preliminary trade data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the nation's exports increased 6% to $30.5 billion in October, with iron ore accounting for about a third of that.

Iron ore exports reached a record high of $10.9 billion last month, but the country’s trade balance shrunk over the month on increased imports of cars, gaming consoles and phones.

Top gainers

Today’s top gainers on the ASX include Lithium Australia NL (ASX:LIT) (+9.43%), Latin Resources Ltd (ASX:LRS) (+9.37%), Australian Vanadium Ltd (ASX:AVL) (+9.09%), Euro Manganese Inc CDI (ASX:EMN) (+10.20%), Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU) (+13.04%), Lake Resources N.L. (ASX:LKE) (+12.07%) and Eclipse Metals Ltd (ASX:EPM) (+10.00%).

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