Stock market live updates: S&P claws back, Netflix pops, coronavirus lifts biotechs, GE jumps

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The S&P 500 manages to finish the day barely in the green. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed only slightly lower. Netflix helped lead the comeback, ending the day up a whopping 7%. Boeing and GE were other big winners. Apple also finished in the green. — Melloy

Shares of Intel are moving higher ahead of the company's fourth-quarter earnings report. The stock is up 1.5% on the day, outpacing the 0.7% gain by the Philadelphia Semiconductor index. Analysts expect the tech company to post $1.25 in earnings per share and $19.23 billion in revenue after the bell, according to Refinitiv. — Pound

With roughly one hour to go in the trading session, the major averages are well off their session lows after the WHO eased fears surrounding the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading about 24 points lower, or less than 0.1%, after dropping more than 200 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are both marginally higher. —Imbert

Oil prices fell 2% on Thursday as demand fears fueled by the coronavirus outbreak continued to weigh on prices. At its session low, U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude touched $54.77, its lowest level since Nov. 1. It rebounded slightly to settle at $55.59, for a loss of $1.15, helped by data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration which showed that stockpiles declined by 405,000 barrels for the week ending Jan. 17. International benchmark Brent crude also fell about 2%. —Stevens

Shares of Gilead Sciences climbing higher, now up 0.7%, after the company said it was assessing whether its experimental Ebola treatment could be used to treat coronavirus infection. Inovio Pharmaceuticals, a small biotech company with a market cap of $390 million, skyrocketed 13% after it said it's in the process of developing a vaccine against the new deadly virus. But analysts cautioned any commercial treatment from Inovio could be years away. — Li

After the new WHO headlines mentioned below, stocks have continued their comeback as fears about the coronavirus spreading ease. Stocks with the most at stake from a disease weighing on the global economy rebounded. United Airlines is higher now. Also Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts are well off their lows. —Melloy

Investor Bill Miller, who beat the market for 15 straight years while at Legg Mason, boasted a return of 119.5% for 2019 (net of fees) in large part because he didn't touch his portfolio to end the year. "In the 4th quarter, we did our favorite thing to do in markets: nothing. No new names and no elimination of holdings from the portfolio," Miller said in a letter to investors of Miller Value Partners, his new firm. Miller Value posted a fourth-quarter return of nearly 60%. Those returns all trounced the broader market. But even as worries that the record run is a bit long in the tooth, Miller thinks the "path of least resistance for stocks remains as has been for a decade: higher." —Imbert

The major stock averages are off the lows with the Dow now down about 100 points, after the World Health Organization's emergency committee said it's premature to consider the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency. "Now is not the time. Bit too early to consider this event is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern," it said. — Li

As noted earlier, Netflix is rebounding and is now up more than 5%. It's completely wiped out the drop on Wednesday which came following some slightly disappointing subscriber numbers contained in its earnings report. Investors appear to be reassessing that stance, helped along by the bullish Guggenheim note. —Melloy

In addition to airlines and travel companies that are negatively impacted by the deadly coronavirus (see below), large-format movie theater company IMAX is also taking a hit. Shares of IMAX are down more than 4% as the Chinese government ordered distributors to cancel new film releases to discourage the public from congregating in crowded places. This move could significantly hurt IMAX's sales in a traditionally strong holiday period. An analyst at Dougherty & Co. covering the company said "clearly our Q1 numbers will need to come down." — Li

Bank of America raised its price target on Apple to $340 per share from $330 per share on Thursday. The firm said strength in Airpods and iPhone11 sales "proves Apple's brand loyalty" and shows the company can count on a steady stream of phone sales despite no function changes. "The 5G cycle offers multi-year visibility on iPhone sales and this, combined with double-digit Services revenue growth, has driven the multiple higher, in our opinion," Bank of America research analyst Wamsi Mohan said in a note to clients. The firm has a buy rating on Apple. Apple shares were flat on the day. —Fitzgerald

Stocks are falling around midday ET as Wall Street takes some profit as new earnings reports come out while investors gauge the potential impact of the coronavirus on the global economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 173 points as Travelers led the losses. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq pulled back 0.4% and 0.1%, respectively. —Imbert

Shares of the streaming giant jumped 4%, making it the second best performing stock in the S&P 500, after Guggenheim raised its target on the stock to $420, which is about 24% above where it currently trades. Thursday's jump follows a 3.6% decline on Wednesday, fueled by the company's fourth quarter earnings which beat expectations, although guidance was disappointing as membership growth slows. — Stevens

Buckingham cut estimates "hard" on United Airlines over fears the coronavirus could affect the airline in the near future. The company said it has "confidence" in the "story" over the next 6-12 months but is cautious given the uncertainty over the virus. Shares are likely to remain under pressure near-term, according to analyst Daniel McKenzie. United shares were little changed after opening lower on the coronavirus fears Thursday. -Bloom

Yum China is down 4.5% Thursday and over 10% this week on pace for its worst week since September 2018 on fears of declining sales due to the coronavirus. The operator of Taco Bell and KFC in China hit correction levels Thursday, down more than 11% from its intraday all-time high from Jan 10th of this year. —Francolla

After three consecutive down days, Boeing's stock climbed as much as 2% on above-average volume. Shares of the aerospace giant had slipped steadily as Boeing's 737 Max crisis continues to unfold: Newly-appointed CEO David Calhoun on Tuesday said he doesn't expect the aircraft to fly until June or July at best. — Sheetz

The bond market took heed when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the Treasury was still looking at 50-year and 100-year bonds, even after its plan to issue 20-year bonds. There was a brief steepening of the yield curve between the 5-year note yield and the 30-year bond, but yields are most under pressure as investors worry about China's coronavirus. Yields move opposite price. Mnuchin told CNBC's Becky Quick that Treasury got what he called a "reverse inquiry" for a 20-year bond while it was studying and surveying markets on the idea of 50-year and 100-year issues. John Roberts, rate strategist at NatWest Markets, said the market move was slight and faded because the Treasury is unlikely to move quickly on the "ultra-longs," after just announcing the 20-year. Mnuchin also told CNBC the government can raise a lot more money at the 20-year duration. Treasury is expected to reveal more info Feb. 5 on its revival of the 20-year, last issued in 1986. "From a technology standpoint, we can do 20s very quickly," he said. "It will take us a little bit longer to do the 100 year…In terms of duration and pricing, we can raise a lot more money in 20 years than in 50s and 100s." —Domm

The Utilities Select Sector SPDR Fund hit another intraday all-time high and the sector is on pace for another record close as broader market retreats from its record levels. American Electric Power, CME Energy, Eversource Energy, NextEra Energy, WEC Energy and Xcel Energy are among the utility stocks that reached all-time highs. Meanwhile, First Energy hit its highest level since 2012. Real estate is also the only other sector trading higher thus far. —Francolla

Not a name we talk about everyday, but Travelers is having an outsized impact on the Dow on Thursday, subtracting 43 points from the average. Shares of Travelers plunged nearly 4% after the insurance company reported disappointing business insurance segment and net investment income. The company said its net premiums writtens, an important measure of revenue growth, rose less than expected. Meanwhile, it reported a margin miss in business insurance due to its experience with an accelerating tort environment. However, the company beat on top and bottom line. "This quarter is disappointing but not as bad as 3Q, but we think could be a slight letdown given strong performance in the shares recently," Evercore ISI analyst said. — Li

Tesla shares opened lower on a very negative call out of UBS (see below). But you can't keep this one down. Tesla shares are now up nearly 1%. Maybe Musk will be able to keep his big payday? — Melloy

The Dow is now down more than 200 points. Bank stocks are falling as yields decline. Bank of America is off by 1.5%. Big names that have led the rally are also taking some hits including Apple and Tesla. —Melloy

Blame Travelers for the Dow's poor open. The broader market is weak too with the S&P 500 off by about 0.3%. Overall, there is lots of red on the board with banks and tech stocks weak. — Melloy

When oil prices started climbing in early December, it was partly on optimism the U.S. and China would strike a trade deal that would help the global economy and oil demand. After this week's sharp drop, that premium has been wiped out by fears of a sharp drop in demand, due to potentially chilling impact of China's new coronavirus on global transportation and commerce and travel within China. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 2.7% Thursday and are now off 5.6% for the week. WTI fell through its 200-day moving average at around $57.70 Wednesday, and now is trading just above $55 per barrel. "The downside objective now are the lows from October/November at about $52. $50 would be the big round number," said energy analyst John Kilduff. "$50 will be a tough nut to crack. It's held up like a line in the sand. It's much more than just a round number, or psychological point." WTI futures hit a high just under $65 in January, when there were fears of a bigger conflict with Iran. The market quickly gave up those gains, but the boost it got from trade had held. —Domm

While pandemics can exact high human totals, they don't often amount to much as far as financial markets go.
When scares like the current coronavirus first hit, they can exact short-term damage. For instance, the Chinese stock market fell 10% when the SARS virus appeared in 2003. Concerns about ebola took 8% off global stocks in 2014.
But Capital Economics points out that markets quickly recover as the scares are contained and conditions return to normal. In fact, the MSCI China Index rose more than 15% five months after the SARS news broke. The drop in stocks during the ebola panic was erased in three weeks. A bit more caution could be warranted this time around, as China plays a larger role in the world economy. But "the fairly fleeting market fallout from even the most severe of these instances means that we are not minded to change our forecasts for the year as a whole," Capital wrote. —Cox

L Brands is poised to pop at the opening of trading after Barclays issued an unusual double upgrade on the equity, with analyst Adrienne Yih telling clients "change is afoot" at the Victoria's Secret parent. Barclays, which now recommends buying shares, hiked its price target 100% to $30 from $15 and said it expects an announcement from management or an activist investor to launch the struggling stock higher. LB stock is up more than 4% around $20.80 in premarket trading around 8:10am ET. — Franck

The automaker's stock slipped 2.2% in premarket trading after UBS resumed coverage of Tesla with a sell rating. The firm expects Tesla will drop 28% in the year ahead, saying the stock has "over-shooting right now" after running up more than 120% in the past six months. Tesla is now the second largest automaker in the world by valuation, trailing only Toyota. —Sheetz

The firm raised its rating on GE to overweight from equal weight and lifted its price target to $14 from $11. Morgan Stanley said it sees the company in a "budding turnaround" and that it expects minimal disruption from Boeing's 737 Max according to analyst Joshua Pokrzywinski. The company will report its fourth-quarter earnings on January 29. — Bloom

Shares of Procter & Gamble drop more than 1% in premarket trading after the consumer giant reported quarterly revenue that fell short of estimates for the first time in five quarters. P&G posted $18.24 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter, less than $18.37 billion expected per Refinitiv. The company was hurt by a stronger dollar and a struggling baby segment, which includes Pampers diapers. At these levels, P&G was taking off 11 points from the Dow. — Li

Oil prices are down again, as traders worry that the coronavirus outbreak could lead to a substantial slowdown in air travel and therefore soft demand for jet fuel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude and international benchmark Brent crude fell to session lows of $55.57 and $62.08 per barrel respectively, their lowest levels since early December. As demand concerns weigh, investors will be closely watching the numbers released today by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on inventory for the week ending Jan. 17. Analysts are expecting a build of 500,000 barrels, according to estimates from S&P Global Platts. — Stevens

Stocks in China took a massive hit overnight as worries about the spread of the deadly coronavirus increased. The Shanghai Composite plunged 2.75%, its biggest one-day drop since May 6, when it plummeted more than 6%. The spread of the coronavirus led Chinese authorities to suspend all public transportation in the city of Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have originated. —Imbert

Fears about the coronavirus outbreak in China continued to weigh on travel stocks Thursday morning. Deaths from China's new virus rose to 17 on Wednesday with more than 540 cases confirmed. Shares of casino and hotel chain Wynn Resorts fell more than 4% in premarket trading and Las Vegas Sands dropped 3.9%. Cruise lines also took a hit, with shares of Norwegian Cruise Line down 2.6% and Carnival down nearly 1% in premarket trading. -Fitzgerald

Stock futures are slipping on Thursday as Procter & Gamble's quarterly results failed to impress investors while worries over the deadly coronavirus spreading dampened sentiment as well. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down just over 60 points and indicated a loss of 65 points at the open. Thursday's decline, if it holds, would be the latest pause in the market's record-setting rally as investors pore through corporate earnings results and grapple with the potential economic implications of the spreading virus in China. —Imbert

— With reporting by Michael Bloom, Michael Sheetz, Tom Franck, Jeff Cox, Patti Domm, John Melloy, Yun Li, Gina Francolla, Jesse Pound