Investment Review - February 2021
- Equity markets gave back some of their end of the year gains in January, but the Nasdaq bucked the trend. The S&P 500 dropped -1.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined -2.0% during the month; however, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.4%.
- Additional vaccines are working their way towards approval to supplement those already being administered. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Novavax (NVAX) have released Phase III data that should lead both companies to seek emergency use authorizations in the near term. JNJ’s vaccine, which is expected to be filed for approval in February, is seen as promising because it only requires a one shot administration and does not need to be refrigerated at extremely low temperatures.
- January saw a continuation of the hot market for initial public offerings (IPO). According to data from Dealogic, 116 IPOs came to market raising $39 billion. Both the number of offerings and the amount of funds raised were the highest on record for the month of January since Dealogic began tracking the data in 1995. The strength in the opening month of the year also portends more to come as the pipeline for future deals is full.
Sources: Bloomberg LLC, FactSet, U.S. Department of Labor, Dow Jones
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