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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 0.39%, Nasdaq 0.54%
(Updates to early afternoon)
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.
However, the hit to the world's second-largest economy was
still unclear as companies struggled to get back to work after
an extended holiday.
"The consensus seems to be that we are seeing the worst of
the coronavirus impact right now but from here it is going to
get better," said John Zaller, chief investment officer of MAI
Capital Management in Cleveland.
"Unless that changes, the markets will still be okay with a
short-term blip in terms of economic and earnings growth."
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 epidemic 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.
At 12:50 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
edged 0.07% higher to 29,297.38.
The S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.39% at 3,365.17 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 0.54% at 9,680.57.
T-Mobile TMUS.O shares jumped 11.2% 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 72.3%, while larger rival Verizon
Communications Inc VZ.N slipped 2.3%.
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 8.1% on
expectation that the merger will result in additional cell-tower
sites.
Under Armour Inc UA.N tumbled 16.2% after it forecast a
surprise drop in 2020 profit. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.76-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.07-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 77 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 141 new highs and 51 new lows.