US Indices End At Records As Coronavirus Fears Ebb

Wall Street stock indices surged Wednesday following strong US jobs data and as equity markets continued to bet the new coronavirus will not significantly crimp global growth.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended at all-time highs, culminating a strong day for stock markets, even as the number of virus cases continued to climb.

Adidas and Nike and European plane-maker Airbus were among the latest companies to curtail operations in China, with Airbus saying it has shut its factory outside Beijing that carries out the final assembly of its A320 and A330 planes, while and the sports companies closed many stores in China.

Authorities in China warned they faced a severe shortage of hospital beds and equipment to treat the growing number of patients, while the World Health Organization called for $675 million (613 million euros) in donations to fight the outbreak.

Analysts generally have expressed confidence the illness will be largely contained to China and the economic harm will not be lasting.

Major indices in New York, Tokyo, Paris and Frankfurt all advanced around one percent or more.

The jump in the US also came following better-than-expected US private hiring data for January and a solid report on services sector activity.

Gorilla Trades strategist Ken Berman said Wednesday's performance in stocks showed "bulls clearly remain in control," but cautioned it was "too early to say the outbreak is priced in" to the market.

He noted that petroleum-linked stocks in particular "could remain under pressure as China might even enter a technical recession due to the epidemic."

Oil prices pushed higher, rallying after four straight down sessions as delegates from OPEC countries and Russia met for a second day in Vienna to respond to the virus, which is expected to significantly dent oil demand.

"If members are to enact steeper voluntary cuts, it would likely depend once again on a disproportionately strong effort by Saudi Arabia," said commodity analyst Robbie Fraser at Schneider Electric.

"Also once again, the key roadblock to further action appears to be convincing Russia to sign on to the measures, with the de-facto leader of the non-OPEC contingent already expressing some skepticism of more aggressive cuts at the group's last official meeting in December."

Among individual stocks, Tesla dropped 17.2 percent, giving back some gains following a massive rally that has more than tripled the electric car's valuation since October.

Rival auto company Ford slumped 9.5 percent following disappointing results, while General Motors gained 1.9 percent after releasing solid results and a profit outlook that met analyst expectations.