US Stocks close little changed

The US equity market ended a volatile session little changed on Wednesday, 22 January 2020, as late hour profit taking erased an early rebound rally on good earnings reports from technology stocks and news that Chinese authorities were taking steps to contain a possible coronavirus pandemic. The S&P sectors were mixed, with gains in technology, financial and health care stocks outweighed losses in industrial, energy, real estate and other sectors. At closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 9.77 points, or 0.03%, to 29,186.27 while the S&P 500 index was up 0.96 points or 0.03% at 3,321.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 12.96 points or 0.14% at 9,383.77.

Stocks pulled back slightly on Tuesday as worries over the spreading of the deadly coronavirus dampened investor sentiment. Those fears lingered on Wednesday even after China unveiled measures to rein in the virus. The coronavirus has been confirmed in five countries, including China, the U.S., Thailand, Japan and South Korea.

China's National Health Commission on Wednesday confirmed more than 500 cases of the deadly coronavirus, which causes pneumonia, and 17 fatalities. However, prompt actions by China to contain the respiratory virus, including cutting off travel into and out of the city of Wuhan, where coronavirus originated, provided some comfort that the outbreak will be contained and not result in a pandemic that may affect global economic growth.

A World Health Organization committee was scheduled to meet for a second day on Thursday as it decides whether to declare the outbreak a global health emergency.

IBM was among the big gainers in the technology sector, up 3.4% after the company reported surprisingly strong results for the fourth quarter and issued a solid profit forecast for 2020.

Capital One Financial gained 4.5% after the credit card issuer and bank reported surprisingly good fourth-quarter earnings.

Netflix dropped 3.6% after the entertainment company gave investors a weak forecast for new subscribers during the first quarter. The company is facing tougher competition from Disney, Apple and others. It warned investors that it is seeing more U.S. customers dropping the service.

ECONOMIC NEWS: The National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales rose by 3.6% in December from the previous month to an annualized rate of 5.54 million homes, the highest level since February 2018. The increase reverses November's 1.7% decline.

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