Stock markets surge on vaccine news, but Zoom tumbles

Zoom's share price drops 17 per cent

Zoom's share price dropped as much as 17 per cent today following news that a COVID vaccine has proved effective in trials.

Preliminary analysis shows that a vaccine developed by US firm Pfizer and German partner BioNTech can stop 90 per cent of people catching the coronavirus, based on a study with 43,000 participants.

Stock markets around the world climbed after the news was published by Pfizer, with the FTSE 100 up six per cent, and Wall Street's S&P 500 index up four per cent ahead of the market's opening.

Businesses in hard-hit sectors such as aviation and hospitality saw sharper gains.

Share prices of EasyJet and British Airways owner International Airlines Group, for example, rocketed by a third.

But not every company saw gains, with Zoom's valuation plummeting 17 per cent.

The videoconferencing firm has become a mainstay of businesses around the world following the mass shift to remote working.

Despite the dramatic-looking drop Zoom's share price is now at same level as mid-September and is still up over 500 per cent on the start of the year.

Other companies that have benefited as a result of people being at home also saw declines, although less severe.

Amazon and Netflix stocks dropped four per cent and eight per cent respectively.

Vaccine developer Pfizer declared today "a great day for science and humanity", with the first doses expected to be delivered this year, subject to regulatory approval.

The UK is expected to receive 10 million doses of the 50 million expected to be ready this year, with more to follow in 2021.