U.S. stocks close mostly higher, led by tech, industrials
Stocks closed mostly higher Thursday on Wall Street as gains in technology and industrial companies offset declines elsewhere in the market.
Investors continued to monitor developments in the international effort to keep a deadly new virus outbreak in China from spreading further and potentially hurting the global economy. Health care stocks, banks and insurers were among the biggest losers.
The S&P 500 index inched up 0.1% to 3,325.54 points after falling 0.6% earlier in the day. The Nasdaq gained 0.2%. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.1%, weighed down by a steep drop in shares of Travelers Cos.
Major U.S. stock indexes wavered between small gains and losses in afternoon trading.
The wobbly trading followed a sell-off in global markets as authorities worldwide take measures to monitor and contain the virus in China.
The central Chinese city of Wuhan — where the virus is concentrated — closed its train station and airport Thursday to prevent people from entering or leaving the city.
The coronavirus has been confirmed in five countries — China, the U.S., Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
More than 500 people have fallen sick and 17 have died from the illness, which can cause pneumonia and other severe respiratory symptoms.
A World Health Organization committee was scheduled to meet for a second day Thursday as it decides whether to declare China’s virus outbreak a global health emergency.
Traders also had their eye on the latest batch of company earnings reports.
Technology stocks notched the biggest gains. Citrix Systems led all S&P 500 stocks, vaulting 8.5%, after the software company reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.
Industrial stocks also rose, with several airlines among the gainers.
Real estate and utilities companies held on to modest gains as investors shifted money into the safeplay sectors.
Health care stocks were the biggest decliners. Edwards LifeSciences, which makes heart valves, dropped 5.2%
Financial stocks, including insurers, also fell. Travelers Cos. slid 5.2%.
Crude oil prices slumped and weighed on energy stocks. Pioneer Natural Resources dropped 2%.
Keeping score
The S&P 500 index was up less than 0.1% as of 12:30 p.m. MST. At closing, the index was up 3.79 points.
The Dow ended up falling less than 27 points, or 0.1%, to close at 29,160.09.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks was up less than 0.1% early in the afternoon.
European markets fell.
Virus jitters
Concern about the coronavirus’ potential impact weighed heavily on stock indexes in China.
The outbreak coincides with the annual travel of hundreds of millions of Chinese for the Lunar New Year festival, which begins Friday.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 1.5%, while the Shanghai Composite index declined 2.8%.
Frayed laces
V.F. Corp. slid 8.8% after the maker of Vans and Timberland shoes cut its profit forecast for the year following weak fiscal thirdquarter sales. The stock was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500.
Full flights
American Airlines Group climbed 2.9% after the company reported solid earnings growth for the fourth quarter. Strong travel demand resulted in record occupancy levels on its planes, though the airline also said it had to cancel about 10,000 flights during the quarter because of the worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max jets.
Shares in other airlines also headed higher. Southwest Airlines gained 3.3% and Alaska Air Group rose 1.8%.
Earnings roundup
Investors rewarded and punished several companies as earnings reports continued flowing. Financial services firm Raymond James fell 5.9% after falling short of profit forecasts.
Student loan company SLM surged 25.7% after beating earnings forecasts and saying it will sell $3 billion in assets to help fund stock buybacks.
Teradyne rose 3.9% after the semiconductor-testing equipment maker’s fourthquarter earnings and financial forecasts beat Wall Street expectations.
Bond yields
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.74% from 1.77% late Wednesday.