Stocks Climb to Records With Virus Impact Unknown: Markets Wrap

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks continued their relentless push higher even as the economic impact from the deadly coronavirus remains murky. Treasuries were mixed and gold advanced.

The S&P 500 Index’s four-day rally hit 3.7% as major equity benchmarks added to all-time highs on the strength of solid corporate results and signs that central banks stand ready to act if growth falters. The torrid ascent has some firms warning about a sense of euphoria taking over among investors, especially as the coronavirus epidemic continues to spread and China’s economy remains virtually locked down. Treasuries edged higher and gold climbed in a sign of some demand for haven assets.

In corporate news, Boeing spiked 3.6% after saying it fixed a software bug in its grounded plane. Twitter Inc. rallied 15% after topping projections for fourth-quarter revenue. Strong results helped powered the Stoxx Europe 600 Index to a record. Crude oil edged above $51 a barrel in New York.

“A lot of the moves this week have been explained by a relief rally that the coronavirus seems to be slowing somewhat, clearly there was a lot of uncertainty embedded in market behavior coming in,” said Mark Heppenstall, chief investment officer at Penn Mutual Asset Management. “It does still have a number of question marks still out there.”

Here are some key events coming up:

• German industrial production is due on Friday.
• The U.S. employment report for January is set for Friday release.
• Australia’s central bank chief speaks and takes questions at a parliamentary committee.

And these are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The S&P 500 Index rose 0.3% as of 4 p.m. New York time.
• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.4%.
• The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.8%.
• The MSCI Emerging Market Index gained 1.3%.

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.2%.
• The euro fell 0.2% to $1.098.
• The onshore yuan was little changed at 6.9708 per dollar.
• The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 109.98 per dollar.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries fell one basis point to 1.65%.
• Germany’s 10-year yield fell one basis point to -0.37%.
• Japan’s 10-year yield rose two basis points to -0.024%.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.5% to $51.01 a barrel.
• Gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,570 an ounce.

--With assistance from Yakob Peterseil and Adam Haigh.

To contact the reporter on this story: Claire Ballentine in New York at cballentine@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sam Potter at spotter33@bloomberg.net, Brendan Walsh, Jeremy Herron

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