Wall Street set to open higher after four-day selloff

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(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes looked set to gain ground on Wednesday after suffering their worst four-day percentage fall in more than a year on fears of the economic damage from the global spread of the coronavirus.

A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the closing bell as the market takes a significant dip in New York, U.S., February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Investors were cautious as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged Americans to prepare for the virus to spread in the United States. President Donald Trump said he will hold a news conference on the coronavirus at 6 p.m. (2300 GMT).

Although the outbreak in China had peaked, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned that the rapid spread of the virus to more places was inevitable.

As of Wednesday, death toll in Italy had crossed 19 and new cases in South Korea rose above 1,260, while Greece and Brazil reported their first cases of the virus .

“It’s unclear if it’s something that will be resolved in weeks or months or a longer time,” said Chester Spatt, professor of finance at Carnegie Mellon University.

“There is potential for shock to both supply and demand sides of the economy. The magnitude of the shock is uncertain right now.”

At 8:48 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 97 points, or 0.36%. S&P 500 e-minis were up 13.25 points, or 0.42% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 54 points, or 0.61%.

The Dow has lost more than 1,900 points in the past two days alone, while the Nasdaq has slid 8.9% from its peak.

The S&P 500, which is down 7.8% from its intraday record high hit last Wednesday, has lost about $1.74 trillion in market capitalization in the last two sessions, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices senior analyst Howard Silverblatt.

Among stocks, TJX Cos Inc jumped 7.4% in premarket trading as the offprice retailer beat quarterly same-store sales estimates.

Beyond Meat Inc rose 5.8% as Starbucks Corp said its Canadian stores will start selling the company’s plant-based breakfast sandwich next week.

Walt Disney Co slipped 1.1% on news Robert Iger will step down as chief executive officer, handing the reins to Disney Parks head Bob Chapek.

Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva



Source : Denver Post