(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Coronavirus deaths, new cases surge
* Tech weighs heaviest on major U.S. stock indexes
* AIG, Kraft Heinz fall after quarterly reports
* Indexes down: Dow 0.43%, S&P 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.14%
(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
Feb 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street lost ground on Thursday,
backing away from record highs as investors digested new
coronavirus developments and mixed corporate earnings.
Technology shares led all three major U.S. stock averages
lower, with the blue-chip Dow suffering the largest percentage
loss.
Hopes that the coronavirus epidemic could be on the wane
were soured by a spike in fatalities, with an additional 242
bringing China's coronavirus death toll to 1,367. Additionally,
thousands more were diagnosed due to a new testing methodology.
Still, there were glimmers of optimism as the director of
the World Health Organization (WHO) told a news briefing that
"we are not seeing dramatic increases in cases outside China."
"On a day like today investors just have to take it in
stride," said Charlie Ripley, senior market strategist for
Allianz Investment Management in Minneapolis.
Still, the late session sell-off was relatively muted.
"There's headlines going back and forth ... but investors
are realizing this is a first quarter event and the
uncertainties are likely to wane," Ripley added.
Indeed, in his economic report to Congress earlier this
week, U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central
bank was assessing the risk of the coronavirus and other
potential threats, indicating any change to its accommodative
policy was unlikely this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 128.11 points,
or 0.43%, to 29,423.31, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 5.51 points, or
0.16%, to 3,373.94 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
13.99 points, or 0.14%, to 9,711.97.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, seven closed in the
red, led by industrials .SPLRCI .
Defensive utilities .SPLRCU and consumer staples .SPLRCS
sectors enjoyed the largest percentage gains.
The fourth-quarter reporting season is nearing its final
approach, with 378 companies in the S&P 500 having posted
results. Of those, 71.2% have surprised consensus estimates to
the upside, according to Refinitiv data.
Analysts now see aggregate fourth-quarter earnings
increasing at a 2.5% annual rate, a stark reversal from the 0.3%
decline seen at the beginning of the year.
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O dropped 5.2% after providing
lackluster forward revenue and profit guidance on its quarterly
earnings call.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose 4.8% following its announcement that
it intends to raise $2 billion in a stock offering. Alibaba Group BABA.N warned that the coronavirus sweeping
China would hurt its revenue. The e-commerce company's shares
fell 1.8%. American International Group Inc AIG.N slipped 6.2%
despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly profit on
stronger underwriting in its general insurance unit.
Shares of Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O plunged 7.6% after the
packaged food company missed quarterly sales expectations and
took a $666 million charge. NetApp Inc NTAP.O dropped 9.3% following the data storage
equipment maker's current-quarter profit forecast miss.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.04-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.01-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 67 new 52-week highs and 3 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 150 new highs and 58 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.86 billion shares, compared
with the 7.64 billion average over the last 20 trading days.