Stocks rose solidly in early trading Wednesday as investors regained an appetite for risk after two days of heavy losses.
The sharp drops, which wiped out the market's gains for the year, were brought on by worries over economic fallout from the virus outbreak that originated in China.
The virus continues to spread and threatens to hurt industrial production, consumer spending, and travel. More cases are being reported in Europe and the Middle East. Health officials in the U.S. have been warning Americans to prepare for the virus.
Investors are setting aside some of their concerns for the time being and bid up technology stocks. Microsoft rose 1.5 percent and Adobe rose 1.8 percent. The tech sector was among the worst hit by sell-offs this week as many of the companies rely on global sales and supply chains that could be stifled by the spreading coronavirus.
Health care companies also climbed. UnitedHealth Group rose 1.9 percent.
Bond prices fell and pushed yields higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 1.36 percent from 1.33 percent late Tuesday.
TJX, the parent of retailer TJ Maxx, surged 7.7 percent after beating Wall Street's fourth-quarter profit forecasts and raising its dividend.
Utilities and real estate companies lagged the market in another sign that investors were shifting away from safe-play stocks.
VIRUS UPDATE: The virus outbreak has now infected more than 81,000 people globally and continues spreading. Brazil has confirmed the first case in Latin America. Germany, France, and Spain were among the European nations with growing caseloads. New cases are also being reported in several Middle Eastern nations.
President Donald Trump will hold a news conference later Wednesday, along with representatives from the Centers for Disease Control, to discuss the virus.
KEEPING SCORE: The S&P 500 index rose 1.2 percent as of 10:20 a.m. Following its two-day drop, it's still down 6.4 percent from the record high it reached last Wednesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 335 points, or 1.2 percent, to 27,423. The Nasdaq rose 1.5 percent. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks rose 0.6 percent.
European markets were mixed and Asian markets fell.
MOUSE EXIT: Disney fell 0.5 percent following Bob Iger's surprise announcement that he will immediately step down as CEO of the entertainment company. Iger steered the company's absorption of big moneymakers, including Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel and Fox's entertainment businesses. He also oversaw the launch of the Disney Plus streaming video service.
BUSTED BUILDERS: Toll Brothers fell 10.1 percent and weighed down other homebuilders after reporting disappointing fiscal first-quarter profit. D.R. Horton fell 2.7 percent and PulteGroup shed 2.9 percent.
Microsoft is expected to report financial results for its second fiscal quarter of 2022. It comes after the company beat on its top and bottom line in its previous four quarters. John Freeman of CFRA Research explains what investors will be keeping an eye out for as Microsoft continues to expand its domain.
Sam Stovall, Chief Investment Strategist at CFRA, tells us what to expect as the month of January comes to a close, and whether or not recent market volatility is at all indicative of how the year will likely forecast.
Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat's reign over the fast food world continues, as McDonald's announced that it is expanding its test of Beyond's McPlant burger, to nearly 600 restaurants, an increase from the eight that it's been testing in since November. This comes less than two weeks after Beyond Fried Chicken made its nationwide debut at KFC restaurants, the first time that plant based chicken has been widely distributed in a fast food capacity. Arun Sundaram, Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research explains why these latest collaborations may be proof that Beyond Meat products could slowly be becoming an unlikely staple in the fast food and chain restaurant world as consumers opt for more healthy food options.
It's a big weekend for sports betting, with the NFL conference championships and Australian Open finals expected to bring the industry even more traffic. And if record viewership of the divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills was any indication, sports betting will only continue to grow as football season comes to an end. Joe Raineri, sports betting analyst at SportsGrid, joined Cheddar to discuss how these sporting events could impact the industry, which is expected to get even bigger in 2022.
Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawaski Wealth and Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says now is a great opportunity to buy low on Tesla after shares fell in light of the EV giant's latest earnings report.
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
