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* Analog Devices rises on $21 bln deal to buy rival Maxim
* Pepsi gains as results beat on higher demand for snacks
* Pfizer, BioNTech get 'fast track' status for vaccine
candidates
* Indexes: Dow +1.5%, S&P 500 +0.7%, Nasdaq +0.2%
(Updates with afternoon trade)
By Noel Randewich
July 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street climbed on Monday, with the
Nasdaq hitting a fresh intraday record high as investors cheered
signs of progress in COVID-19 vaccine development and an upbeat
start to the second-quarter earnings season by PepsiCo.
Shares of German biotech firm BioNTech BNTX.O jumped 12%
and Pfizer Inc PFE.N climbed 5.4% as two of their experimental
coronavirus vaccines received the U.S. FDA's "fast track"
designation. The S&P 500 briefly touched its highest level since Feb. 25
after rebounding over 40% since mid-March, even as COVID-19
infections rose rapidly in Arizona, California and Texas and
about 35 other states.
"The only fear out there is the fear of missing out. It's
FOMO running rampant," said Dennis Dick, a proprietary trader at
Bright Trading LLC. "It's money that has been on the sidelines,
scared that it missed the boat."
Merger news also perked up investors as chipmaker Analog
Devices Inc ADI.O announced a $21 billion deal to buy rival
Maxim Integrated Products Inc MXIM.O , whose shares rose 11%.
Analog shares fell 3.6%. PepsiCo Inc PEP.O gained 1.6% after it said it benefited
from a surge in at-home consumption of salty snacks such as
Fritos and Cheetos during lockdowns. Investors are bracing for what could be the sharpest drop in
quarterly earnings for S&P 500 firms since the financial crisis,
according to IBES Refinitiv data. Results from big banks will be
in focus this week.
The S&P 500 remains down about 5% from its February record
high and it is down about 1% for 2020.
By 2:43 p.m. ET (1843 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI was up 1.5% at 26,465.32 points, while the S&P 500 .SPX
gained 0.68% to 3,206.54.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.16% to 10,634.46 after
earlier rising almost 2%.
The S&P 500 healthcare index .SPXHC jumped 2%, making it
the session's strongest sector.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped 13% extending its recent rally.
Over the weekend, it cut the price for its Model Y SUV.
Recent economic data has strengthened belief that the
stimulus-pumped U.S. economy is on the road to recovery, helping
investors look past a recent spike in U.S. infections.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
2.06-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.53-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 38 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 126 new highs and 17 new lows.
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