US markets rose; GreenSky soared 53% on acquisition news; BioNTech jumped 6% on booster shot data

The US markets rallied on Wednesday as investors bought back into stocks following the recent selloff and oil prices extended a recent rally which boosted energy stocks.

The Dow Jones rose 0.68% to finish the trading day up 237 points to close at 34,814 points.

The tech heavy NASDAQ rose 0.8% to finish the trading day up 124 points to close at 15,162 points with Tesla and Google gaining 1.52% and 1.26% respectively.

One bitcoin is worth US$48,010 going into the Asian trading day.

The Australian dollar is stronger against the major currencies and is buying 73.38 US cents.

US-based fintech company GreenSky soared 53.15% yesterday after news broke that it is being acquired by leading global investment banking and financial services firm, Goldman Sachs. The all-stock deal values GreenSky at an estimated US$2.2bn or US$12.11/share. Goldman?s acquisition of GreenSky assists its move into the increasingly popular buy now, pay later space.

BioNTech climbed more than 6% on Wednesday after the US FDA released Pfizer?s argument in favour of booster COVID-19 shots, with data showing the vaccine is roughly 84% effective after 4-months, down from 96% a week after the second dose. Pfizer argues that vaccine effectiveness decreases as time increases and therefore wants a booster shot to be administered six months after the initial doses.

And Fitbit smartwatches now detect snoring and other loud noises through its new ?Snore and Noise Detect? feature.