Covid vaccine approval could stall tech stocks boom

Approvals for a potential COVID-19 vaccine later this year could threaten the recent surge in speculative investment in big U.S. technology companies and pull investors back towards more traditional growth-linked cyclical stocks, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.

Seen as “stay-at-home” winners in the coronavirus lockdowns, shares in Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Amazon.com and Alphabet have surged this year and now account for nearly a fifth of the S&P 500’s stock market value.

Bumper results from the iPhone maker last week pushed it past Saudi Aramco to become the world’s most valuable publicly listed company and heading towards a $2 trillion valuation.

In a global markets research note sent to clients, Goldman analysts said the current rally could last until Labor Day in early September, but would be threatened by updates on vaccines.