Crude oil futures rise by as much as 10% after drugmakerPfizer touts success of its trialCOVID-19 vaccine.WTI crude futures break above $40 a barrel, in line with steep rally in shares of airlines, cruise companies and car manufacturers.- Crude prices fell to minus $40 a barrel in April, when the first wave of the pandemic brought global transport to a virtual halt and traders dumped unwanted inventories of fuel at any price.
Pfizer's experimental coronavirus vaccine succeeded in the final stage of clinical trials, the drugmaker said Monday, a milestone in society's fight against the pandemic.
US WTI crude futures rose by as much as 11.5% to a session high at $41.33 a barrel, while Brent crude rose by 8.8% to $42.89 a barrel.
The crude price was set for its biggest one-day rally since early May.
The study found people who got Pfizer's shot were less likely to develop COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The drugmaker said the shot was found to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.
Shares in airlines and cruiselines - some of the worst-hit by the coronavirus health crisis - soared by 20-30% in premarket trading.
Earlier in the year, the price of US crude fell to a low of -$40 a barrel, as traders scrambled to offload unused inventories when a first wave of lockdowns brought virtually all global transport to a halt.
Since then, the price has risen to around $40 a barrel, but has been unable to break much above here, given the uncertainty over the outlook for demand, as a new wave of the virus has unleashed more lockdowns, mainly in Europe.