US close: Stocks finish lower as first coronavirus case confirmed in US

Wall Street trading finished in the red on Tuesday, as traders returned from the Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday to concerns over a new deadly virus outbreak in China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session down 0.52% at 29,196.04, the S&P 500 lost 0.27% to 3,320.79, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.19% lower at 9,370.81.

At the open, the Dow was 79.81 points lower after closing in the green on Friday, on the back of some economic data out of China and a strong start to the earnings season.

An outbreak of the new coronavirus in China had already killed six people ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday - a time when hundreds of millions of people were set to travel - and was confirmed as being contagious by Chinese authorities the day before.

Many analysts expected an economic reaction similar to when the deadly severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis took place in 2003, with investors fleeing from risk assets in Asia overnight.

“The US open appeared to calm things on Tuesday - the Dow Jones not quite as afflicted by the coronavirus-fears that struck the Asian and European indices,” said SpreadEx's Connor Campbell earlier.

“It is unclear at this point whether fears surrounding the coronavirus in China are already beginning to dissipate, or if it will remain one of the market’s underlying concerns over the coming weeks.”

However, later in the session the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first case of the Wuhan coronavirus in the country, sending markets sharply lower in afternoon trading.

Over at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Donald Trump made it clear in his speech that he was not happy with the US Federal Reserve.

The President called on the central bank to lower rates at a quicker pace, which moved currency markets as the dollar slipped against the euro and other G10 currencies.

While recent news around trade had been mostly positive, Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday that he was "absolutely serious" about slapping tariffs on European cars if a trade deal with the region could not be reached.

Elsewhere, the International Monetary Fund downgraded its global economic growth forecast for 2020 from 3.4% to 3.3%, with the US economy now projected to grow 2% - a downward revision of 0.1%.

Things were quiet on the data front on Tuesday, but in corporate news, aerospace giant Boeing was down 3.33% after it kicked off talks with banks to borrow $10.0bn as costs associated with its 737 MAX aircraft continued to hurt its bottom line.

Capital One was down 1.86% and Stanley Black & Decker was 1.59% softer, as Halliburton reversed earlier gains to slip 0.79% and Johnson & Johnson eked out gains of 0.14%, as all four firms reported earnings on Tuesday.

Among other risers, cab hailing app Uber Technologies was up 7.09% as it completed the sale of its India-based food delivery operation to Zomato.

Netflix ended the session down 0.46%, but was up 2.23% in after-hours trading, after it reported a net addition of 8.8 million subscribers globally in its fourth quarter, but said in the US it added just 420,000 users amid the growing threat of serious streaming competition.

Dow Jones - Risers

Intel Corp. (INTC) $60.55 1.59%
Visa Inc. (V) $207.28 1.27%
Unitedhealth Group Inc. (UNH) $300.53 0.69%
International Business Machines Corporation (CDI) (IBM) $139.17 0.62%
Walmart Inc. (WMT) $115.59 0.55%
Home Depot Inc. (HD) $232.95 0.45%
Coca-Cola Co. (KO) $57.17 0.40%
Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) $60.32 0.32%
Travelers Company Inc. (TRV) $140.91 0.13%
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) $149.27 0.07%

Dow Jones - Fallers

Boeing Co. (BA) $313.37 -3.33%
Chevron Corp. (CVX) $113.31 -1.96%
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) $245.70 -1.51%
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) $67.58 -1.43%
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) $145.85 -1.31%
Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) $89.97 -1.10%
3M Co. (MMM) $179.39 -1.08%
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (WBA) $53.87 -0.99%
JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) $136.84 -0.98%
American Express Co. (AXP) $130.53 -0.75%

S&P 500 - Risers

Abiomed Inc. (ABMD) $189.91 4.76%
CenturyLink Inc. (CTL) $14.72 4.69%
Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $64.94 2.93%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $313.26 2.82%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $58.97 2.27%
D. R. Horton Inc. (DHI) $56.97 2.26%
Amer Water Works (AWK) $133.22 2.13%
Crown Castle International (CCI) $148.21 2.04%
Evergy, Inc. (EVRG) $68.67 1.99%
PulteGroup Inc. (PHM) $42.54 1.79%

S&P 500 - Fallers

Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) $15.52 -7.67%
MGM Resorts International (MGM) $32.39 -6.22%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $142.31 -6.14%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $363.71 -5.76%
Westrock Company (WRK) $41.60 -4.76%
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX) $12.27 -4.66%
United Airlines Holdings Inc (UAL) $85.79 -4.36%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $27.20 -4.23%
CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) $44.25 -4.10%
Royal Caribbean Cr (RCL) $129.68 -3.98%

Nasdaq 100 - Risers

Tesla Inc (TSLA) $547.20 7.19%
Qurate Retail Inc. (QRTEA) $9.19 3.96%
Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) $313.26 2.82%
Micron Technology Inc. (MU) $58.97 2.27%
Intel Corp. (INTC) $60.55 1.59%
Amazon.Com Inc. (AMZN) $1,892.00 1.46%
Autodesk Inc. (ADSK) $195.84 1.29%
Cadence Design Systems Inc. (CDNS) $74.60 1.18%
Synopsys Inc. (SNPS) $153.58 1.13%
Illumina Inc. (ILMN) $328.33 1.11%

Nasdaq 100 - Fallers

Trip.com Group Limited (TCOM) $35.86 -7.91%
Wynn Resorts Ltd. (WYNN) $142.31 -6.14%
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (REGN) $363.71 -5.76%
American Airlines Group (AAL) $27.20 -4.23%
Liberty Global plc Series C (LBTYK) $19.55 -3.98%
Marriott International - Class A (MAR) $144.37 -3.92%
Liberty Global plc Series A (LBTYA) $20.34 -3.83%
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG) $1,990.57 -3.12%
Align Technology Inc. (ALGN) $273.17 -2.68%
Fastenal Co. (FAST) $35.83 -2.64%