U.S. stocks punched solidly higher Wednesday, with the major benchmarks hitting all-time highs, buoyed by signs of a slowdown in the number of new cases of COVID-19 — a strain of coronavirus that emerged in Wuhan, China late last year.
Investors also tuned into a second day of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who said the central bank could use “forward guidance” and quantitative easing to fight the next economic downturn.
What are major indexes doing?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.94% was up 245 points, or 0.8%, at 29,521, while the S&P 500 SPX, +0.65% added 20 points or 0.6%, to trade near 3,378. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.90% climbed 79 points to 9,718, a gain of 0.8%. All three benchmarks are trading in record-close territory and set new intraday highs Wednesday.
What’s driving the market?
China’s National Health Commission on Wednesday said 2,015 new cases of the disease caused by the new viral infection had been reported over the last 24 hours, declining for a second day. That brought the number of cases in mainland China to 44,653, although experts have warned that a substantial number may have gone uncounted. The commission said there were 97 additional deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the mainland total to 1,113.
While many analysts have attributed market gains to the slowing pace of contagion, some contend the positive reaction may be premature.
“The ultimate impact of the coronavirus on global growth is uncertain, as is the timeframe for when the spread of the virus will peak,” said Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, in a note.
“The market seems to be pricing in a virus that will be at least somewhat contained in the nearer term. But it is no surprise that the accuracy of Chinese data related to the spread and death toll of the coronavirus has been in question since the outbreak was first reported,” he said.
That’s contributed to selling pressure in the market the past two Fridays, he said. The trend could continue in the near term as traders seek to “pack lightly” for the weekend, avoiding holding large speculative positions that could take a hit from headlines about the viral outbreak when markets reopen.
In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Powell said the Fed had two recession-fighting tools: buying government bonds in an effort to push down long-term interest rates, a strategy known as quantitative easing; and communicating clearly with markets about the path of interest-rate policy.
See: Powell says Fed will aggressively use QE to fight next recession
On the political front, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont won the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, narrowly besting Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, while Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota scored a third-place finish.
Which companies are in focus?
- Shares of ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. LYFT, -10.16% slid 9% after it reported fiscal first-quarter results following Tuesday’s closing bell.
- Health-care services company CVS Health Corp. CVS, -0.14% saw shares edge 0.2% lower after reporting forth-quarter results.
- Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. BBBY, -20.61% tumbled 19.7% after the retailer reported dismal Q4 earnings and warned on future sales.
- Molson Coors Beverage Co. TAP, -4.39% shares fell more than 3%, following an earnings release and management call Wednesday morning. .
- Shares of Micron Technology Inc. MU, +3.53% jumped to a 20-month high after UBS analysts upgraded the stock.
- WisdomTree Investments, Inc. WETF, +13.57% shares surged more than 12% after a Morgan Stanley upgrade.
- Health insurers like UnitedHealth Group Inc. UNH, +4.24% jumped Wednesday after a primary win by Bernie Sanders was seen as bolstering the chances that President Donald Trump would be re-elected. Shares of Humana Inc. HUM, +4.66% were up 4.6%.
What are other markets doing?
Oil prices ended higher. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery CLH20, +3.26% rose 2.5% to $51.17 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In precious metals, gold for April delivery GCJ20, +0.00% erased an early loss to eke out a 0.1% gain.
The U.S. dollar DXY, +0.28% was 0.2% higher relative to a basket of its peers.
U.S. government bonds sold off, pushing up yields, with the benchmark 10-year note rate TMUBMUSD10Y, +1.56% up 4.7 basis points to 1.63%. Bond prices move inversely to yields.
In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, +0.63% closed 0.6%, or 2.68 points, higher, at 431.16. The FTSE 100 FTSE, +0.52% jumped 0.5%, or 34.93 points, to close at 7,534.37.
In Asia overnight, the China CSI 300 000300, +0.81% rose 0.8% to 3,984.43, while the Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.87% was 0.9% higher, at 27,823.66.
"Market" - Google News
February 13, 2020 at 03:23AM
https://ift.tt/37nS4zo
Stock market trades in record territory as number of new coronavirus cases falls - MarketWatch
"Market" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2Yge9gs
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/bostonglobe/VNG7YMZTRWJ5WBFTJ5NVETPCQI.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment