Stocks – Wall Street Hits Records as Tech Rallies, Virus Fears Ebb

Investing.com – Wall Street ended at record highs Thursday as traders cheered better-than-expected earnings and cast aside signs that the spread of the coronavirus in China continues to pick up pace.

The rose 0.33% and the rose 0.67%. The 0.30%. All three major averages closed in record territory.

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in China reached 564, with those affected topping 28,000, prompting the World Health Organization to warn that it was “too early” to declare a peak in the spread of the new disease.

But the sobering warning from the WHO did little to sour sentiment as traders cheered signs of positive U.S.-China relations and upbeat corporate earnings.

China will halve the levies on $75 billion of U.S. imported goods as part of its efforts to comply with the phase one agreement, China’s Ministry of Finance said.

Tech played a major role in the record day, buoyed by a surge in Twitter and chip stocks.

Twitter (NYSE:) jumped 15% after the social media company’s quarterly results topped estimates and strong user additions for the quarter suggested its efforts to purge its platform of bad digital actors are taking shape.

Qualcomm (NASDAQ:) pared losses to end 0.3% lower after the chipmaker reported better-than-expected quarterly results, but warned that the impact of coronavirus in China could have a “material impact” on its near-term profits.

Estee Lauder (NYSE:) rose 5% on the back of quarterly earnings and revenue that beat estimates, which offset a profit warning.

Bedding maker Casper Sleep (NYSE:), meanwhile, got its public market debut off to a positive start, surging 12% after opening at $14.50. The underwriters lowered the price range on the IPO twice yesterday amid questionable institutional demand.

The stock was up more than 20% intraday before pairing gains.

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