US: Tesla continues surge as stocks gain

[NEW YORK] Wall Street stocks jumped on Tuesday, gaining for a second straight session as fears eased over an economic hit from the coronavirus outbreak in China.

Major US indices rose more than one per cent, with analysts citing economic stimulus measures by the People's Bank of China for cushioning the blow in that country, as well as the extremely limited spread of the ailment so far in the United States.

Despite more cases, the rise "was not enough to cause panic on Wall Street, or to increase the fear that China and other countries won't be able to get it under control," said Tom Cahill, portfolio strategist at Ventura Wealth Management

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.4 per cent to finish the session at 28,807.63.

The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 1.5 per cent closing at 3,297.59, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surged 2.1 per cent to 9,467.97.

The gains on Tuesday added to the February recovery following Friday's rout on rising fears that the virus outbreak would derail global growth, even as officials have confirmed that growth will take a hit at least in the first quarter.

The companies seeing a rebound included travel-oriented stocks that tumbled last week, including United Airlines, which surged 5.3 per cent and Marriott International, which advanced 4.2 per cent.

Still, World Bank President David Malpass said the international organisation plans to revise its global growth forecast downwards due to the outbreak, on an expected slowdown in China and the likely hit to global supply chains that depend on the country.

Meanwhile, Tesla surged 13.7 per cent, adding to a nearly 20 per cent rise on Monday as it continued to reach new records following a run of strong results.

Most other leading technology companies also advanced, including Apple, Amazon and Netflix, all of which won at least two per cent.

An exception was Google-parent Alphabet, which slid 2.6 per cent after reporting fourth-quarter sales that missed expectations despite stellar growth at YouTube and in their cloud-oriented businesses.

AFP