· Wall Street sets record closing highs as coronavirus fears subside
Wall Street closed at record highs on Wednesday as news that the coronavirus outbreak could be running out of steam kept buyers in the ring.
Technology shares led the broad-based rally, which pushed all three major U.S. stock averages to fresh highs. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have now set closing highs for three consecutive sessions. The Dow reached its most recent closing record on Feb 6.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 274.46 points, or 0.94%, to 29,550.8, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 21.63 points, or 0.64%, to 3,379.38 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 87.02 points, or 0.9%, to9,725.96.
· European markets closed higher Wednesday as traders monitored corporate earnings and the spread of the new coronavirus.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed provisionally up 0.6%, hitting a record high as most sectors and major bourses were in positive territory. Autos shares soared 3.8% to lead gains while utilities bucked the upward trend to fall 0.4%.
· Asia Pacific stocks mixed as new coronavirus cases in Hubei spike
Stocks in Asia Pacific traded mixed on Thursday morning as a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases in China’s Hubei province was reported.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.13% while the Topix index was 0.37% lower. Shares of conglomerate Softbank Group continued to see gains after Wednesday’s surge, gaining 0.94% in morning trade. The moves came upward despite the firm posting a near wipe out of its quarterly profit.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi added 0.59%. Shares in Australia were also higher in morning trade, with the S&P/ASX 200 up 0.21%.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index was largely flat.
The moves regionally came as China’s Hubei province on Thursday reported a spike in the number of new coronavirus cases, after the province said it started to include “clinically diagnosed” cases in its tally. Market sentiment had been been positive earlier in the week as the data had been showing an apparent slowdown in the pace of new reported cases.
On the corporate earnings front, firms such as Japan’s Nissan Motors and Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba are expected to announce their quarterly financial results on Thursday.
Singapore’s DBS on Thursday morning announced a 14% jump in its net profit for the fourth quarter as compared to a year ago.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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