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* Futures up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.76%
By Sruthi Shankar
Jan 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to fresh
highs for the S&P 500 on Wednesday, as investors took heart from
China's efforts to contain a deadly virus outbreak, while strong
results from IBM and Netflix boosted earnings optimism.
Wall Street's main indexes slipped from record highs on
Tuesday after officials confirmed the first U.S. case of the
coronavirus that has killed nine and infected 440 in China.
The outbreak, which revived fears of a pandemic similar to
the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, roiled
travel and airline stocks on Tuesday, as millions of people
prepared to travel for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
A batch of strong earnings reports helped lift sentiment.
International Business Machines Corp IBM.N rose 4.4% in
premarket trading after forecasting full-year profit above
market expectations on strength in its high-margin cloud
computing business. Netflix Inc NFLX.O rose 1.9% as international growth
helped the streaming video service beat expectations for
subscription growth, even as it warned of a tough first quarter.
U.S. semiconductor stocks benefited from a strong forecast
from Dutch firm ASML Holding NV ASML.AS , the latest large
chipmaker to indicate a recovery in the sector. Chip-gear maker Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O rose 1.9%,
while Micron Technology Inc MU.O and Advanced Micro Devices
Inc AMD.O gained about 1% each.
Among the weak spots was Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N , dropping
1.6% after missing quarterly revenue estimates due to
disappointing sales of its blockbuster psoriasis medicine
Stelara and cancer drug Imbruvica. With markets looking to regain momentum following a wobbly
session on Tuesday, investors kept a close watch on developments
around U.S. President Donald Trump's impeachment trial and the
annual meeting of world leaders and business heads in
Davos. At 7:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 90 points, or
0.31%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 14.25 points, or 0.43%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 70 points, or 0.76%.