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* Fed chair Jerome Powell wraps up two-day economic report
* Lyft slides after disappointing revenue outlook
* Tech stocks lead rally, chips gain
* Indexes up: Dow 0.78%, S&P 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.70%
(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Feb 12 (Reuters) - All three major U.S. stock
averages reached record highs on Wednesday as news that the
dreaded coronavirus could be running out of steam kept buyers in
the ring.
Technology shares led the broad-based rally, which set the
S&P 500 and the Nasdaq up for their third consecutive all-time
closing highs. The Dow last had set a closing record on Feb 6.
China reported its lowest number of new coronavirus cases in
two weeks, the day after a senior Chinese medical adviser said
the epidemic could be over by April. Still, the outbreak has spooked investors amid quarantines,
supply-chain disruptions and factory shutdowns and the World
Health Organization (WHO) warned that beyond China's borders,
the crisis could be just beginning.
Market participants closely watched as U.S. Federal Reserve
chair Jerome Powell wrapped up his semiannual economic report
before congress, during which he reiterated that the central
bank is closely monitoring the coronavirus and other threats.
"(The Fed has) communicated that they're going to be on hold
for some time and the dovish stand will be in place for the rest
of the year," said Matthew Keator, managing partner in the
Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts.
"And the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus is a
confirmation of that."
"The Fed has indicated that they're going to take a wait and
see approach that gives the market a bit of a runway," Keator
added.
Powell repeated his confidence in the sustainability of the
current U.S. economic expansion, now in its 11th year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 228 points, or
0.78% to 29,503.82, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 18.08 points, or
0.54%, to 3,375.83 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 71.65
points, or 0.74%, to 9,710.59.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but consumer
staples .SPLRCS were in the black, with energy .SPNY ,
consumer discretionary .SPLRCD and communications services
.SPLRCL enjoying the largest percentage gains.
Fourth-quarter reporting season is over the hump, with 351
companies in the S&P 500 having posted results. Of those, 70.9%
have surprised analyst expectations to the upside, according to
Refinitiv data.
Aggregate fourth-quarter earnings are now seen growing at an
annual rate of 2.4%, a turnaround from the 0.3% year-on-year
decrease forecast on Jan 1.
Lyft Inc LYFT.O slid 9.7% after the ride-hailing company
forecast slower revenue growth in 2020. Micron Technology Inc MU.O gained 3% after UBS upgraded
the chipmaker's shares to "buy." The broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX
advanced 1.3%.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.84-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.78-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 63 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 123 new highs and 41 new lows.