Stock Market News For Jan 27, 2020

U.S. equities encountered sharp selloff on Friday as fears about the Coronavirus outbreak intensified. In fact, the broader S&P 500’s performance last week was the worst in six months after a second case of the new found disease was reported in Chicago by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three major indexes — the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite — closed in the red on Friday. Dow hit 28,989.73 after losing 0.6%. The broader S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished at 3,295.47 and 9,314.91 respectively after declining 0.9% each.

The fear-gauge CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rose 40.1% to close at 18.19 on Jan 24. Finally, decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by a 2.33-to-1 ratio.

Fears Escalate Over Coronavirus

The panic induced by the mysterious disease that allegedly originated in China drove international markets haywire on Friday. After all, disruption in travel plans and trade globally could hamper global economic growth, which triggered investors’ fear.

Death count because of the disease went up to 26 in China as the country reported at least 1287 confirmed cases of infection by end of day on Jan 24, the Wall Street Journal cited. China took drastic measures such as banning large public gatherings and locking down more cities in a bid to refrain the disease from spreading further.

Earnings Shine Bright This Quarter

Despite the negativity induced by fears of Coronavirus, companies continue to post promising quarterly results.

Shares of American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) rose 2.9% after the financial services company reported fourth-quarter 2019 earnings of $2.03 per share, which easily surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.5%.The company’s earnings were 16.7% higher on a year over year basis, which were driven by a growth in fee, spend and lend revenues.

American Express Company’s revenues of $11.4 billion also came as per the Zacks Consensus Estimate and were up 9% year over year. This is the tenth consecutive quarter in which the company reported foreign exchange adjusted revenue growth of at least 8%, owing to the “well-balanced mix” in fee, spend and lend revenuesgrowth. (Read more)

Shares of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:APD) climbed 2.8% on Friday after the provider of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, equipment and services reported quarterly earnings of $2.14 per sharefor the first-quarter fiscal 2020, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.08.

The company’s revenues of $2.25 billion for the said quarter also surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 0.63%. The bottom line in the reported quarter was driven by higher volumes and pricing across all regions. (Read more)

Both the American Express Company and Air Products and Chemicals carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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