Why 3M, Textron, and MasTec Stocks All Popped 5% (Or More) Today

By now you've heard the news: vaccine-maker Moderna Inc. announced this morning that Phase 1 data on its mRNA-1273 vaccine against the SARS-CoV-19 coronavirus is looking promising, with the vaccine apparently "safe and well tolerated" among a group of 45 patients undergoing its clinical trial, and apparently able to elicit "an immune response of the magnitude caused by natural infection" among at least eight of them. If it passes Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials as well, the vaccine could prove effective at preventing infection with COVID-19.

Investors like the sound of that a lot, and are bidding up shares of ... well, just about everything today. As of 2:30 p.m. EDT, the S&P 500 Index of companies is up well over 3%. Industrial companies are doing particularly well, with shares of N95 mask-maker 3M (NYSE: MMM) up 6.2%, construction company MasTec (NYSE: MTZ) rising 10.3%, and aerospace concern Textron (NYSE: TXT) doing best of all -- up 11.2%!

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