US markets end lower as spread of China virus worries investors

25 Jan 2020 Evaluate

The US markets ended lower on Friday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the second case of the Chinese coronavirus in the US. It said the patient, a woman in her 60s, recently returned from a trip to Wuhan, China, and is currently doing well and in stable condition. China confirmed 830 cases of infection, with the official death count at 26. The death toll at 26 and concerns are growing that the travel bans in place will start to have a major impact on the economy with some calling for a 1 percentage point hit or greater with Chinese GDP.  However, the markets initially benefited from a positive reaction to earnings reports from big-name companies like Intel (INTC) and American Express (AXP).

Shares of Intel surged up by 8.1 percent after the semiconductor giant reported fourth quarter results that exceeded street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. Intel also provided upbeat guidance for the current year and said its board of directors approved a five percent cash dividend increase. American Express also ended the day notably higher after the financial services giant reported better than expected fourth quarter results. Besides, US purchasing manager activity was better than expected The IHS Markit composite PMI was 53.1 in January, a 10-month high.

Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 170.36 points or 0.58 percent to 28989.73, Nasdaq fell 87.57 points or 0.93 percent to 9314.91 and S&P 500 was down by 30.07 points or 0.9 percent to 3295.47.

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