· S&P 500, Nasdaq eke out new closing highs
S&P 500 and the Nasdaq inched to their second consecutive record closing highs on Tuesday as Chinese officials said the deadly coronavirus epidemic could be contained by April.
But the Dow closed flat, and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq pared their gains after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued orders to large tech companies to provide information on mergers that were too small to report to antitrust regulators.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, the S&P 500 gained 5.66 points, or 0.17%, to 3,357.75 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.55 points, or 0.11%, to 9,638.94.
“The best thing that could happen for stocks this year is that we go sideways for a while and let markets catch their breath.”
Market participants watched closely as U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell began his semiannual economic update before congress.
Powell’s remarks reiterated his view that the economy, in its 11th year of expansion, remains “resilient,” but that the central bank was closely monitoring potential risks, including the coronavirus.
· Asia stocks mixed as investors watch virus developments; Softbank surges more than 10%
Stocks in Asia traded mixed on Wednesday morning as concerns over the ongoing coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh upon investor sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.49% while the Topix index shed earlier gains to decline 0.23%.
Shares on Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group jumped 10.47% after earlier skyrocketing more than 12% after a judge stateside approved a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint. Softbank is a majority shareholder of Sprint.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Kospi fell into negative territory as it declined 0.11%.
Stocks in Australia held on to gains, with the S&P/ASX 200 gaining 0.4% as shares of Commonwealth Bank of Australia surged 3.06%.
Shares of Australian health supplements firm Blackmores bucked the overall trend as they plunged more than 15%. The company had earlier announced a scrapping of its dividend and the expectation that this year’s profit will more than halve as its supply chain is impacted by the coronavirus outbreak, according to Reuters.
Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.16% higher.
Reference: CNBC, Reuters
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