By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The Dow moved out of correction territory Thursday, but remained in the red amid growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on business activity in the wake of a surge in infections across the globe.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 360 points, or 1.33%, after easing from a 960 point drop.
The S&P 500 fell 1.10% and Nasdaq Composite fell 1.34%
The bounce from session lows in the broader market comes even as coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreaks increased worldwide, with more infections reported in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.
Just hours after reporting 520 cases earlier in the day, Italy said infection rose to 650, with 3 more deaths.
The early-day selling was driven by fears infections in the U.S. could jumped after the CDC confirmed the first infection to a patient who did not have "relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient."
"As we’ve seen from recent countries with community spread, when it has hit those countries, it has moved quite rapidly. We want to make sure the American public is prepared," Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters.
"As more and more countries experience community spread, successful containment at our borders becomes harder and harder" and “disruption to everyday life might be severe,” she added.
Travel and tourism, which earlier came under heavy selling pressure on concerns about softer demand, pared some losses and sparked a broader rebound as bargain-seeking investors piled into beaten-down.
Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE), Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) and United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL) turned positive for the session, rising more than 1%.
Banking stocks like JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) also cut some losses as Treasury yields eased from losses as the flight-to-safety trade lost some steam.
The 10-Year yield hit an all-time low of 1.24% earlier today.
Despite the bounce, investor sentiment remained fragile, especially on tech names amid further worries about virus-led disruption to growth.
Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) canceled its annual F8 software developer conference, citing concerns about the outbreak. Its shares were down 1.5%.
On the earnings front, investors cheered mostly bullish quarterly results.
Square (NYSE:SQ) surged 12% after it topped quarterly earnings estimates underpinned by a rise in its users.
Etsy (NASDAQ:ETSY) popped 16% higher following a beat on both the top and bottom lines.
Elsewhere, energy stocks continued to languish in the red amid an ongoing slump in oil prices.