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* Indexes up: Dow 0.68%, S&P 0.37%, Nasdaq 0.33%
* Apple biggest boost on Oppenheimer upgrade
* Forty Seven Inc hits record high on $4.9 bln offer
* Banks pressured by drop in Treasury yields
(Updates to market open)
By Ambar Warrick and Sanjana Shivdas
March 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were slightly higher
in choppy trading on Monday, as investors assessed the efficacy
of further monetary stimulus amid the growing economic impact of
the coronavirus outbreak.
Wall Street had jumped 1% at the open as traders counted on
a reduction in interest rates after data showed the sharpest
contraction in Chinese factory activity for February.
But the benchmark S&P 500 pared gains after private and
official surveys showed domestic manufacturing activity barely
expanded last month. Wall Street had marked its biggest weekly decline on Friday
since the 2008 financial crisis, sinking into correction
territory amid rampant fears of a recession resulting from the
epidemic.
Investors now expect the Fed to deliver a 50 basis points
rate cut 0#FF: when it meets on March 17-18. USD/
"Markets (are) trying to get a sense of where we are in the
correction relative to the coronavirus," said Robert Pavlik,
chief investment strategist and senior portfolio manager at
SlateStone Wealth LLC in New York.
"If we can hold around flat-line to up (today), that's a
huge win."
At 10:16 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 173.32 points, or 0.68%, at 25,582.68, and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 11.03 points, or 0.37%, at 2,965.25. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 28.42 points, or 0.33%, at 8,595.79.
Shares of major banks fell as increased bets on a rate cut
prompted a drop in bond yields. JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and
Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N fell between 0.3% to 0.6%.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 3.2%, recovering from a more than
two-month low after Oppenheimer & Co upgraded the stock to
"outperform". Cancer drug developer Forty Seven Inc FTSV.O jumped 61.6%
after larger peer Gilead Sciences GILD.O made a $4.9 billion
offer for the firm. Gilead rose 1.1%. China's JD.com Inc JD.O rose 7.7% after it forecast at
least a 10% rise in revenue for the first quarter, after posting
better-than-expected quarterly results. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.06-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE, while declining issues outnumbered advancers for a
1.15-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and 17 new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 11 new highs and 80 new lows.