- The Nasdaq fell 2.04% to close Monday?s session at 12,581 points.
- Apple fell 2.7% on COVID-imposed lockdowns in China affecting supplier factories.
- Moderna rose 9% after announcing the first patient dosage in HIV vaccine trial.
The US markets started the week mixed as investors? fears of renewed lockdowns in China due to Omicron spreading in the region, weighed on tech stocks.
The Dow Jones rose 0.0032% to finish the trading day up 1 point to close at 32,945 points.
The tech heavy NASDAQ fell 2.04% to finish the trading day down 263 points to close at 12,581 points.
One bitcoin is worth US$39,322 going into the Asian trading day.
The Australian dollar is firm against the major currencies and is buying 72 US cents.
Apple shares lost 2.7% on Monday amid the closure of Foxconn, one of the tech giants? biggest suppliers in China. Foxconn is temporarily halting operations at its Shenzhen sites, one of which produces Apple?s iPhones, as the Chinese government imposed a lockdown on the region to control the growing Omicron COVID-19 outbreak.
Shares in vaccine-maker Moderna rallied 9% on Monday after the company announced the first patient has been dosed with an experimental HIV trimer mRNA vaccine in a clinical trial of Moderna?s potential HIV vaccine. If successful after the trial and approval process, Moderna will have created the world?s first vaccine protecting against HIV, and the company believes using newer technology in the form of messenger RNA is an ?opportunity to take a fresh approach to this challenge?.
And new robotic-arms are being used by the NHS in the UK to help perform some difficult cancer surgeries, giving the surgeon full control via a computer while the robotic-arm performs the tricky procedures.