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* Sprint, T Mobile jump as merger wins approval
* Under Armour slumps after surprise profit drop forecast
* Fed Chair Powell says U.S. economy in a good place
* Indexes up: Dow 0.07%, S&P 0.38%, Nasdaq 0.48%
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes scaled
new highs on Tuesday as investors took heart from remarks by a
top Chinese health adviser that the coronavirus outbreak may be
peaking.
After more than 1,000 deaths and weeks of uncertainty that
roiled global financial markets, China's foremost medical
adviser on the epidemic said infections may be over by April.
"Markets are pricing in that we will see a peak in cases a
lot sooner... so factories will be able to reopen and supply
chain will begin to repair itself," said Ephie Coumanakos,
managing partner of Delaware-based Concord Financial Group.
However, the hit to the world's second-largest economy was
still unclear as factories struggled to resume production after
an extended holiday.
The main U.S. stock indexes have reclaimed record highs as a
batch of encouraging domestic economic data, largely upbeat
corporate earnings and recent stimulus measures from China
helped investors look past fears about the coronavirus.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Congress that the
U.S. economy is in a good place, even as he cited the potential
threat from the coronavirus in China. The communication services .SPLRCL index was among the
only two major S&P sectors in the red. Cyclical sectors such as
technology .SPLRCT and consumer discretionary .SPLRCD
provided the biggest boosts to the benchmark index.
Pressuring the Dow Industrials' .DJI advance was a 0.4%
drop in Boeing Co BA.N shares as the company reported no new
orders for airplanes last month.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 0.07% to 29,296.65 and the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.38% to
3,364.85. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 0.48% at 9,674.32.
T-Mobile TMUS.O shares jumped 10.5% to the top of the
benchmark S&P 500, after a federal judge approved its purchase
of Sprint, clearing the path for a deal which was originally
valued at $26 billion. Sprint S.N surged 71.6%, while larger rival Verizon
Communications Inc VZ.N slipped 2.5%.
Cell tower operators, including SBA Communications Corp
SBAC.O , American Tower Corp AMT.N and Crown Castle
International Corp CCI.N , jumped between 4% and 7.4% on
expectation that the merger will result in additional cell-tower
sites.
The fourth-quarter earnings season has been largely upbeat,
with about 71% of the 324 S&P 500 companies that have reported
beating profit estimates.
Hasbro Inc HAS.O rose 0.2% on better-than-expected
quarterly profit, but Under Armour Inc UA.N tumbled 16.5%
after it forecast a surprise drop in 2020 profit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.69-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.93-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 77 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 136 new highs and 48 new lows.