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* China to halve extra tariffs on some U.S. imports
* U.S. weekly jobless claims hit nine-month low
* Becton Dickinson tumbles after forecast cut
* Twitter advances as quarterly revenue tops $1 bln
* Indexes up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 0.31%, Nasdaq 0.61%
(Updates to mid-afternoon)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Feb 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks gained for a fourth straight
session on Thursday and Wall Street's main indexes hit record
highs amid growing confidence in China's efforts to contain the
economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.
China said it would halve additional tariffs levied against
some U.S. goods, seen by analysts as a move to boost confidence
after the fast-spreading coronavirus disrupted businesses and
hit investor sentiment. Data showing that the number of Americans filing for
unemployment benefits dropped to a nine-month low last week also
fueled positive sentiment, with investors casting an eye toward
Friday's monthly U.S. employment report. "Maybe cooler heads have prevailed regarding the long-term
impact of coronavirus," said James Ragan, director of wealth
management research at D.A. Davidson in Seattle. The main
reasons driving stocks higher on the day were economic data and
the fact that "largely, earnings reports have been positive," he
said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 92.26 points,
or 0.31%, to 29,383.11, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 10.34 points,
or 0.31%, to 3,345.03, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
57.53 points, or 0.61%, to 9,566.22.
Among S&P 500 sectors, communication services .SPLRCL and
technology .SPLRCT led the way, while energy .SPNY fell the
most.
Even with optimism about containing the broad economic
damage from the coronavirus, the impact of the health emergency
in China continued to show up in corporate reports. Chipmaker
Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O flagged a potential threat to the mobile
phone industry from the outbreak. Its shares fell 1.2%.
Investors were also digesting the acquittal on Wednesday of
U.S. President Donald Trump on impeachment charges. "The outcome was fairly well telegraphed and I think widely
believed, but it ends the chapter for now and I think that is a
modest positive for investor sentiment,” Ragan said.
With the fourth-quarter corporate reporting season more than
halfway completed, S&P 500 companies are expected to have
increased earnings by 2.1% for the period, according to IBES
data from Refinitiv.
In earnings news, Becton Dickinson and Co BDX.N shares
slid 10.7%, contributing the biggest drag on the S&P 500, after
the medical technology company cut its 2020 forecast.
Kellogg K.N shares slumped 7.9% after the breakfast cereal
maker forecast full-year earnings that widely missed market
expectations. Twitter shares TWTR.N soared 17.7% after the social media
company reported $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first
time. Philip Morris International shares PM.N rose 3.1% after
the tobacco company released results. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.04-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 60 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 111 new highs and 34 new lows.