NEW YORK, Nov 30 — Wall Street stocks retreated from records early today, shrugging off positive coronavirus vaccine news ahead of key economic data releases later in the week.

Markets looked past news that Moderna will apply for formal regulatory approval of its Covid-19 vaccine and President-elect Joe Biden’s official announcement naming of Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary, two items that helped propel equities to records last week.

"The phenomenal run seen this month in the stock market has priced in a lot of good recovery news already; hence, the market this morning hasn’t been moved by it,” Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare said in a note.

About 30 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8 per cent at 29,675.88.

The broad-based S&P 500 dipped 0.3 per cent to 3,628.06, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 12,203.35.

This week’s economic calendar includes the November jobs report, as well as reports on activity in the manufacturing and services sectors. 

There are also two days of congressional testimony with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on pandemic aid programmes. — AFP