The Dow spent most of the morning more than 200 points in the red only to bounce back in the afternoon to once again break nearly even.  Once again, the coronavirus is being blamed for much of the skittishness even though the WHO has stated it’s too early to dial a global 911 on this thing.  Again, it’s more accurate to describe this flat market as an indication that investors are satisfied and comfortable.  Indeed, Q4 is giving everyone a good reason to be comfortable as more positive reports stream in and 67% of reporting companies continue to beat expectations.  Indeed, the only real mystery today is that bellwether companies like Travelers, Comcast, and Freeport-McMoRan turn in great reports but still had up to 5% drops in their share prices.  Volume remains above average at 7.5 billion. 

thu  JANUARY 23, 2020 / 4:32 pm 

S&P 500 gains, Nasdaq hits new high as investors eye earnings, coronavirus

Stephen Culp

DJ:  29,186.27  -9.77          NAS:  9,383.77  +12.96          S&P:  3,321.75  +0.96       1/22

DJ:  29,160.09  -26.18        NAS:  9,402.48  +18.71          S&P:  3,325.54  +3.79       1/23

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended slightly higher and the Nasdaq eked out a record closing high on Thursday, helped by a jump in Netflix, while news about the coronavirus outbreak spreading from China and mixed earnings results kept a lid on the market.  The S&P and the Nasdaq had both been trading down before news late in the session that Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) was assessing its experimental Ebola drug as a possible treatment for the virus.  The Dow ended modestly lower.

Even as health officials in China put millions of people on lockdown in efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has so far claimed 18 lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was “a bit too early” to declare a global health emergency.  “The virus is, if not a diversion, it’s something the traders are going to capitalize on,” said Chuck Carlson, chief executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond, Indiana. “It matters, but it matters to a subset of the market, not with investors who are looking past the next 24 hours.”  The outbreak has strained global equity markets, just as millions of Chinese are preparing to travel for the Lunar New Year, which begins Saturday.

The fourth-quarter reporting season is gathering steam, with analysts now expecting fourth-quarter earnings to contract by 0.7% from a year ago. Of the 74 companies in the S&P 500 that have already posted results, 67.6% have beaten consensus expectations, according to Refinitiv data.  “Today we’ve got a situation where we’ve got a flat market, which would indicate that markets are comfortable with earnings and that expectations had risen given the rally going into the earnings season,” Carlson said.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 26.18 points, or 0.09%, to 29,160.09, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.79 points, or 0.11%, to 3,325.54, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 18.71 points, or 0.2%, to 9,402.48.  Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, six closed in the red. Healthcare .SPXHC was the biggest percentage loser, while industrials .SPLRCI enjoyed the largest gain. 

Insurance bellwether Travelers Cos Inc (TRV.N) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, with underwriting gains tripling and catastrophe losses falling. Nevertheless, the company’s shares dropped 5.1%, and were the biggest drag on the blue-chip Dow.

Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) beat Street estimates but lost more subscribers than analysts expected, sending its shares down 3.8%.  Freeport-McMoRan (FCX.N) results also came in above expectations, but investors focused on the mining company’s drop in Indonesia production. Its stock fell 2.8%.  Among winners, Union Pacific Corp (UNP.N) gained 3.5% after the rail operator said the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade pact should reverse slumping volumes.

Netflix (NFLX.O) jumped 7.2%, rebounding from losses sparked by a disappointing forecast earlier in the week. 

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a 1.01-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.15-to-1 ratio favored decliners.  The S&P 500 posted 53 new 52-week highs and four new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 98 new highs and 44 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.52 billion shares, compared with the 6.87 billion average over the last 20 trading days.