The US markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday on reports that the Chinese government's efforts to stop the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. Chinese health officials said that hospitals are stepping up preventive measures and government officials are recommending that people not enter or leave Wuhan. Meanwhile, China’s National Health Commission confirmed more than 500 cases of the deadly coronavirus, which causes pneumonia, and 17 fatalities. Besides, a positive reaction to earnings news from IBM Corp. (IBM) contributed to the strength on markets, with the tech giant jumping by 3.4 percent. The advance by IBM came after the company reported better than expected fourth quarter results and provided upbeat full-year 2020 guidance.
On the economic data front, after reporting a notable decrease in US existing home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report showing existing home sales rebounded by much more than anticipated in the month of December. NAR said existing home sales spiked by 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.54 million in December after tumbling by 1.7 percent to a rate of 5.35 million in November. Street had expected existing home sales to jump by 1.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.43 million. With the much bigger than expected monthly increase, existing home sales in December were up by 10.8 percent compared to the same month a year ago. On a full-year basis, NAR said total existing home sales came in at 5.34 million in 2019, unchanged from the previous year.
Nasdaq gained 12.96 points or 0.14 percent to 9383.77 and S&P 500 was up by 0.96 points or 0.03 percent to 3321.75, while Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 9.77 points or 0.03 percent to 29186.27.
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