Valley Companies Benefit From Vaccine Rally on Wall Street

The stock market hit record highs Monday due to pharmaceutical companies reporting a breakthrough in a coronavirus vaccine.In the San Fernando Valley region, companies in the entertainment and restaurant sectors gained the most, including chains Cheesecake Factory Inc. and Dine Brands Global Inc. and Burbank media giant Walt Disney Co.Cheesecake Factory in Calabasas (CAKE) closed up $5.93, or more than 19 percent, to $36.99 on the Nasdaq. Dine Brands (DIN), the Glendale owner and franchiser of IHOP and Applebee’s restaurants, closed up $9.44, or just more than 17 percent, to $64.56.Disney (DIS) closed up $15.13, or almost 12 percent, to $142.59.The upswing also helped companies headquartered elsewhere with major operations in the Valley region. Six Flags Entertainment Corp. (SIX), which owns the Magic Mountain theme park in Santa Clarita, finished up $4.41, or more than 17 percent, to $29.40.And Carnival Corp. & Plc (CCL), owner of Valencia-based Princess Cruise Lines, finished up $5.43, or more than 39 percent, to $19.25.According Yahoo! Finance, the market’s performance was tied to Pfizer Inc. announcing that in clinical trials its COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 percent effective against the virus. Shares of Pfizer went up 7.7 percent while ADRs of BioNTech SE, a German company working with Pfizer on its vaccine, increased 13.9 percent.The Dow Jones Industrial Average index closed up more than 800 points, a gain of almost 3 percent. The market hit record highs during the day before settling back down to finish at 29,157. The S&P 500 closed up 41 points, or 1.2 percent, to 3,550. The Nasdaq, after having started out strong then plummeted before finishing down 181 points, or 1.5 percent, to 11,713.