Markets climb on vaccine hopes and Twitter faces security breach
US markets closed firmly higher on Wednesday as investors focused on COVID-19 vaccine hopes and early signs of an upswing in business activity during the pandemic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 227.44 points, or 0.9 percent, to 26,870.03, with the S&P 500 gaining 29.04 points, or 0.9 percent, to 3,226.56. The Nasdaq Composite rose 61.91 points, or 0.6 percent, to end the session at 10,550.49.
European markets also rose on the back of travel stocks after a wave of optimism following reports of progress in vaccine developments. The pan-Europena Stoxx 600 index climbed surged 1.8 percent as hard-hit airline stocks like British Airways-owner IAG, Ryanair and Lufthansa rose between 9.7% and 10.7%, while cruise operator Carnival Plc jumped 11.4%.
Maltese markets meanwhile traded lower with the MSE Equity Total Return Index closing down 0.411 percent at 8,151.226 points. Bank of Valletta Plc led the losses with shares down 2 percent at €0.98, followed by International Hotel Investments Plc which dropped 1.75 percent to €0.56. Malta Properties Company Plc posted the largest gain with shares up 3.57 percent at €0.58.
Twitter's top accounts hacked
Social media platform, Twitter, said hackers accessed its internal systems to hijack some of its top voices including U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden, reality TV star Kim Kardashian, former U.S. President Barack Obama and billionaire Elon Musk and used them to solicit digital currency. "We're looking into what other malicious activity they may have conducted or information they may have accessed and will share more here as we have it," the company said.
Twitter said employees with access to its internal systems had been successfully targeted by hackers who "used this access to take control of many highly-visible (including verified) accounts and Tweet on their behalf." Chief Executive Jack Dorsey earlier said the company was diagnosing the problem and pledged to share "everything we can when we have a more complete understanding of exactly what happened."
Shares in the social media company tumbled almost 5% in trading after the market close before paring their losses. Several experts said the incident raised questions about Twitter's cybersecurity.
This article was issued by Peter Petrov, Trader at Calamatta Cuschieri. For more information visit, www.cc.com.mt. The information, view and opinions provided in this article are being provided solely for educational and informational purposes and should not be construed as investment advice, advice concerning particular investments or investment decisions, or tax or legal advice. Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd has not verified and consequently neither warrants the accuracy nor the veracity of any information, views or opinions appearing on this website.