NEW YORK, Jan 22 — Wall Street stocks bounced early today, boosted by a strong earnings report from IBM while Tesla surged above US$100 billion (RM406.6 billion) in market capitalisation.
The early gains came after stocks had pulled back yesterday from record levels amid worries over the coronavirus outbreak.
Officials in Wuhan, China, which has been at the centre of the outbreak, cancelled major Lunar New Year events in light of public health concerns.
About 25 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 29,289.81, up 0.3 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.4 per cent to 3,333.74, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.6 per cent to 9,423.58.
IBM led the Dow, rising 4.5 per cent after topping fourth-quarter earnings expectations. Chief Executive Ginni Rometty said the result “positions us for sustained revenue growth in 2020” led by the company’s cloud computing businesses.
Among other companies reporting results, Johnson & Johnson lost 1.6 per cent, Netflix dropped 3.1 per cent and United Airlines climbed 0.8 per cent.
Tesla jumped 4.0 per cent, lifting the electric car maker’s market capitalization above US$100 billion, triggering a payout plan that could be worth billions for Elon Musk. — AFP
