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* U.S. manufacturing rebounds in January
* Tesla shares soar after Panasonic battery report
* Gilead gains as drug to be tested to counter coronavirus
* Materials, tech sectors biggest gainers; energy slumps
* Indexes up: Dow 0.51%, S&P 0.73%, Nasdaq 1.34%
(Updates to close of U.S. market)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, boosted by
heavyweight technology shares and on surprise strength in U.S.
manufacturing activity, following a sharp selloff last week on
concerns about the economic impact from the fast-spreading
coronavirus out of China.
U.S. factory activity rebounded in January after contracting
for five straight months amid a surge in new orders, according
to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). “Investors are looking beyond the potential negative impacts
of the coronavirus," said Michael Arone, chief investment
strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
"Historically, these events have proven to be a buying
opportunity for investors, and there could be an element of
folks getting comfortable with where we are with the coronavirus
moving forward.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 143.78 points,
or 0.51%, to 28,399.81, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 23.4 points,
or 0.73%, to 3,248.92, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
122.47 points, or 1.34%, to 9,273.40.
Microsoft MSFT.O shares rose 2.4%, leading a 1.3% rise for
the S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT .
Shares of Google parent Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O gained 3.5%
ahead of the company's quarterly results. But the shares fell in
after-market trading, wiping out the day's gains, following
release of the results.
The energy sector .SPNY slumped 1.3% as crude prices
dropped.
Investors were eyeing a busy U.S. political week. Democrats
in Iowa kick off the party's nominating process on Monday with
the state caucuses.
The U.S. Senate was due to vote on Wednesday on whether to
remove President Donald Trump from office following the
impeachment process, with the Republican-controlled body widely
expected to acquit him. "The uncertainty caused by the impeachment case looks like
it will be over by the middle of the week,” said Peter Tuz,
president of Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville,
Virginia.
In company news, Tesla Inc TSLA.O shares soared 19.9% as
Panasonic Corp 6752.T reported the first quarterly profit in
its U.S. battery business with the electric vehicle maker.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O shares gained 5.0% after the
drugmaker said it has provided its experimental Ebola therapy
for use in a small number of patients with the coronavirus.
Nike Inc NKE.N shares rose 3.1% after JP Morgan added the
stock to its focus list. The fourth-quarter earnings season is about halfway done.
About 228 S&P 500 companies have reported so far, and earnings
are expected to have climbed 1.1% in the period, according to
IBES data from Refinitiv.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.76-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.76-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 29 new 52-week highs and 10 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 65 new highs and 74 new lows.
About 7.7 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges,
slightly above the daily average over the last 20 sessions.