U.S. stocks pushed higher Wednesday, with major benchmarks touching new intraday records, after Chinese authorities provided assurance they were taking steps to contain a possible coronavirus pandemic, relieving investor fears about a threat to global economic growth.
What are major indexes doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.00% was up 7 points, or 0.02%, at 29,196 midafternoon, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.03% was little changed at 3,323. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.15% was up 10 points or 0.5%, at 9,380.
On Tuesday, the Dow DJIA, +0.00% shed 152.06 points, or 0.5%, to 29,196.04, ending its five-day streak of gains. The S&P 500 index SPX, +0.03% fell 8.83 points, or 0.3%, to 3,320.79 and the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.15% closed down 18.14 points, or 0.2%, at 9,370.81, after briefly turning positive mid-session to set a record intraday high of 9,397.58.
What’s driving the market?
Prompt actions by China to contain the respiratory virus, including cutting off travel into and out of the city of Wuhan, where coronavirus originated, provided some comfort that the outbreak will be contained and not result in a pandemic that may affect global economic growth. Officials at the World Health Organization said the emergency committee is split on whether to declare the new coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.
“It seems that risk sentiment is considering much of the widespread news and talk of a potential SARS 2003 outbreak as predominantly fear mongering, and that the situation will eventually return to normal, as it has historically,” said Bethel Loh, macro strategist at ThinkMarkets, in a note.
DJIA, +0.00% The Dow has risen for five of the past six weeks, with a year-to-date return in 2020 of 2.3%. The S&P 500 has gained for two consecutive weeks, with a year-to-date return of 2.8% and the Nasdaq has risen for six straight weeks, with a year-to-date return of 4.4%.
In U.S. economic news, sales of previously-owned homes surged nearly 4% in December, confirming the rebound in the sector that many analysts believe will bolster economic growth in 2020.
Which companies are in focus?
IBM IBM, +3.18% shares was up 2.8% after reporting earnings and an outlook that came as a positive surprise for analysts.
Netflix Inc. NFLX, -3.71% late Tuesday reported a boost to revenue and global net subscriber growth at the end of 2019, but offered a weak outlook for the start of 2020. Shares were off 3.8%.
Boeing Company BA, -1.64% was down 1.9% and was a drag on the Dow, a day after the airplane manufacturer confirmed its 737 Max wouldn’t be up and running until mid-2020.
Dow-component Johnson & Johnson JNJ, -0.67% early Wednesday reported a fourth-quarter profit that beat expectations, though revenue came up a bit shy. Shares slid 0.6%.
United Airlines Holdings UAL, -3.00% late Tuesday reported results that beat Wall Street’s adjusted profit expectations in the fourth quarter. The stock was little changed.
Tesla Inc. TSLA, +3.48% shares jumped 4% after an analyst upped his price target by 50%.
How are other markets trading?
The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, -0.25% ticked up fractionally to 1.77%.
In commodities markets, oil futures ended lower on Wednesday, pressured by demand concerns linked to the coronavirus outbreak in China, as well as expectations for a weekly rise in U.S. crude inventories. West Texas Intermediate crude CLH20, -2.88% slipped 41.64 to settle at $56.74.
Gold for February delivery GCG20, +0.01% slipped $1.20 to settle at $1,556.70 as safe-haven investments became less attractive.
The U.S. dollar DXY, +0.00% was nearly flat relative to a basket of its peers as measured by the DXY index.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe SXXP, -0.08% slipped 0.08% to 423.04 and the FTSE 100 FTSE, -0.45% fell 0.5%.
In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.43% rose 0.4%, while the Hang Seng HSI, +1.27% jumped 1.3%.
div > iframe { width: 100% !important; min-width: 300px; max-width: 800px; } ]]>
Add Comment