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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New YorkBy Sruthi Shankar
(Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday as gains in technology and financial sectors helped major indexes recover from their worst selloff in about four months on worries over a coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the global economy.
Markets across the world stabilized as the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said he was confident in China’s ability to contain the virus outbreak, which has killed 106 people in the country, prompted businesses to close operations and curbed travel.
The earnings season was gathering pace, with Apple Inc (O:) set to report results after markets close. Its shares rose 2.3%, recouping from a 3% drop on Monday amid a broader market selloff.
Investors will keep a close watch on Apple’s earnings amid concerns of a disruption in iPhone production as the coronavirus spreads across its major markets like China.
“We haven’t seen the coronavirus massively spread and China is doing everything they can to corral this virus,” said Ryan Detrick, senior market strategist for LPL Financial.
“Today is investors taking a look and realizing that earnings season has been pretty good so far.”
The S&P technology index () rose 1.8%, while financial stocks () gained 1.4% as big banks rebounded.
Also helping the sentiment, a U.S. Conference Board consumer confidence index rose to better-than-expected 131.6 points in January.
At 11:33 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average () was up 0.81% at 28,766.10. The S&P 500 () gained 1.09% to 3,278.85 and the Nasdaq Composite () rose 1.35% to 9,262.51.
Earnings are now expected to show a decline of 0.4% for the fourth quarter, according to Refinitiv data. Of the 104 companies that have reported, 68.3% have topped expectations, although lagging the average rate of 74% from the past four quarters.
Results were mixed on Tuesday, with U.S. industrial giant 3M Co (N:) sliding 5.7% after it forecast 2020 profit below expectations as it faced sluggish demand in Asia.
Pfizer Inc (N:) fell 3.9% after the drugmaker reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and a decline in revenue as sales of its off-patent pain treatment Lyrica more than halved.
Shares in Xerox Holdings Corp (N:) jumped 5.4% after it forecast 2020 profit above Wall Street expectations.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.83-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.48-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 23 new 52-week highs and three new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 54 new highs and 29 new lows.
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