Trump Congratulates US Public for Stock Market Record, Vaccine Development

By 2:45pm (local time), the Dow Jones index had jumped 425 points (+1.4pc) to 30,016.

"There is some concern that the labour market is taking a step backwards as opposed to forward on the heels of stimulus having run out and no more stimulus packages in the offing", said Paul Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in Chicago.

I'm very thrilled with what has happened on the vaccine front. "Never been broke, that number". Nobody thought they'd ever see it. That's the 9th time since the beginning of 2020, and it's the 48th time that we've broken records during the Trump administration.

The President, who has largely failed to address the nation on how the country will grapple with surging COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, appeared eager to take the podium and credit his own administration for the market's strength after largely shying away from making formal public remarks in the stinging weeks since losing his reelection.

President Donald Trump outs Dow hitting 30K, congratulates administration staffers at a press conference.

Earlier this month, USA drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna announced that their respective coronavirus vaccine candidates were around 95 percent effective.

Trump has rarely appeared in public since the November 3 election.

Jordan Fabian, Bloomberg's White House correspondent, later tweeted: "One of the stranger presidential briefing room appearances", adding that Vice President Mike Pence was also present but did not say anything.

Shortly before the press briefing, Pennsylvania followed MI in certifying its election results for Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The Epoch Times won't call the race until the litigation is resolved.

Trump on Monday called on the General Services Administration to start giving Biden's team resources but clarified that he was not conceding. He said in a tweet that his team is "continuing to pursue our various cases on what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history".