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* Intel jumps after strong forecast
* Officials confirm second U.S. case of coronavirus
* Investors eye Apple, Facebook, Amazon earnings next week
* Indexes down: Dow 0.83%, S&P 1.04%, Nasdaq 1.01%
(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street lost ground on
Friday as mounting worries over the scope of the coronavirus
outbreak overshadowed positive corporate earnings.
All three major U.S. stock averages extended their losses
after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed
the second case of the virus on U.S. soil, this time in Chicago.
For the holiday-shortened week, all three indexes are on
course to post a decline with the Nasdaq set to snap a six-week
winning streak.
Market participants kept a wary eye on developments
surrounding the coronavirus, which the World Health Organization
(WHO) deemed "an emergency in China," having now killed 26
people and infected more than 800 on the eve of the Lunar New
Year holiday. "There's not much confidence in actual fundamentals, and a
scare like the virus can be enough to force investors to rethink
if markets have run too far too fast for too long," said David
Carter, chief investment officer at Lenox Wealth Advisors in New
York. "There's lots of uncertainty in the markets and the virus
scare has only added to that."
Intel Corp's INTC.O stock surged 7.8% after reporting
jumps in data center and cloud computing revenue and forecasting
better-than-expected 2020 earnings. Consumer credit company American Express Co AXP.N
benefited from a robust U.S. retail sales environment, posting a
better-than-expected 9% annual revenue increase. Its stock
advanced 2.3%. Fourth-quarter reporting season is well under way, with 74
companies in the S&P 500 having reported, 68.2% of which have
beaten Wall Street estimates, according to Refinitiv data.
Analysts now expect earnings to have contracted by 0.5%, on
aggregate, in the October to December quarter.
Next week, a swarm of closely watched results are expected,
notably from Apple Inc AAPL.O , McDonald's Corp MCD.N ,
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O , Tesla Inc TSLA.O , Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O , Boeing Co BA.N , Facebook Inc FB.O and Caterpillar
Inc CAT.N , among others.
Perhaps more than ever, investors will be scrutinizing the
quarterly reports for strong forward guidance.
"We view 2019 as a year of hope and belief that corporate
profit growth would accelerate in 2020," Carter added. "Earnings
growth is critical to see in 2020."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 242.56 points,
or 0.83%, to 28,917.53, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 34.7 points, or
1.04%, to 3,290.84 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
95.23 points, or 1.01%, to 9,307.25.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, all but utilities
.SPLRCU were in the red, with energy .SPNY healthcare
.SPXHC , and financial .SPSY suffering the largest percentage
losses.
Broadcom Inc AVGO.O inched up 0.7% after entering an
agreement with Apple Inc AAPL.O for the supply of wireless
components used in its products. Rivals Skyworks Solutions SWKS.O and Qorvo Inc QRVO.O
were down 4.8% and 4.9%, respectively, on the news.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
2.70-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.29-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 84 new 52-week highs and 4 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 112 new highs and 50 new lows.