Stocks were higher from the outset of trading following former Vice President Joe Biden's strong showing last night in the Democratic primary voting held in 14 states. The market, which continues to also contend with a non-stop flow of coronavirus headlines, seems to be taking solace in the surge of the former VP, who is seen as much more friendly to stocks than his main contender for the nomination, Bernie Sanders. Billionaire former NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg dropped out of the race following the "Super Tuesday" results, leaving the nomination race to Biden, Sanders and the fading Elizabeth Warren.
ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., ADP reported private payrolls increased 183,000 in February. Markit's services PMI was flat at 49.4 in the final February print, matching the preliminary reading. The ISM services reading increased 1.8 points to 57.3 in February, which was much better than forecast.
In coronavirus news, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it providing conditional regulatory relief for certain publicly traded company filing obligations under the federal securities laws, as the impacts of the virus may present challenges to certain companies that are required to provide information to trading markets and shareholders. The SEC said it would allow 45 extra days to file certain disclosure reports. Outside the U.S., Italy and the U.A.E. each shut down their schools over the coronavirus outbreak.
In Federal Reserve news, the Fed said in its latest Beige Book that economic activity expanded at a "modest to moderate" rate over the past several weeks and that employment increased at a slight to moderate pace. The Fed cited coronavirus and the U.S. presidential election as potential economic risks in its Beige Book.
TOP NEWS: General Electric (GE) reaffirmed its outlook for fiscal 2020 and provided earnings guidance for the first quarter, noting that it is "closely monitoring" the coronavirus outbreak as an "evolving variable." The company said during the call that its outlook assumes that the Boeing (BA) 737 MAX will return to service in mid-2020 and that any further impact from coronavirus has not been incorporated into guidance beyond Q1.
Meanwhile, shares of managed care organizations and hospital stocks rose after former Vice President Joe Biden achieved primary victories across the South, Midwest, and New England on "Supet Tuesday." Biden won nine of 14 states yesterday, including Texas, North Carolina, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Meanwhile, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who is a leading proponent of "Medicare for All," rolled to victories in Colorado, Utah, Vermont, and California. The former vice president's comeback has sent managed care organization and hospital stocks like Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC), CVS Health (CVS), Humana (HUM), Molina Healthcare (MOH), UnitedHealth (UNH), Community Health (CYH), and Tenet (THC) higher.
On the earnings front, HP Enterprise (HPE) shares slid 2.6% after the company reported lower than expected revenue for the first quarter and reaffirmed its fiscal 2020 earnings outlook. Of note, CFO Tarek Robbiati said that revenue is unlikely to grow in fiscal 2020.
United Airlines (UAL) said it will cut international flights by 20% and domestic flights by 10% in April due to the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Additionally, Uber (UBER) shares rose 4.5% following the company's presentation at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. The company said during the conference that it still sees EBITDA profitability in the fourth quarter of this year and that, should coronavirus turn out to be a crisis, the company is "in a far better position than any other company" in the sector.
MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Meet Group (MEET), which jumped 23.1% after Reuters reported that ProSieben's NuCom unit is near a deal to acquire Meet Group that could value the dating app developer at over $500M. Also higher were Benefitfocus (BNFT) and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), which gained a respective 6.8% and 9% afte reporting quarterly results.
Among the notable losers was Health Insurance Innovations (HIIQ), which fell 8.6% after it reported quarterly results, said it is still exploring strategic alternatives, and announced it will change its name to Benefytt Technologies. Also lower after reporting quarterly results were Cardlytics (CDLX) and Owens & Minor (OMI), which declined 36.7% and 10.4%, respectively.
INDEXES: The Dow rose 1,173.45, or 4.53%, to 27,090.86, the Nasdaq gained 334.00, or 3.85%, to 9,018.09, and the S&P 500 advanced 126.75, or 4.22%, to 3,130.12.
GE Aerospace
+0.08 (+0.74%)
Boeing
+2.67 (+0.95%)
Ticker changed to ELV
+40.07 (+15.62%)
Centene
+8.45 (+15.63%)
CVS Health
+3.49 (+5.58%)
Humana
+46.47 (+14.26%)
Molina Healthcare
+19.97 (+16.31%)
UnitedHealth
+28.12 (+10.76%)
Community Health
+0.405 (+8.11%)
Tenet Healthcare
+2.96 (+11.47%)
HP Enterprise
-0.33 (-2.62%)
United Airlines
+1.15 (+1.97%)
Uber
+1.47 (+4.45%)
Meet Group
+1.27 (+22.92%)
Benefitfocus
+0.78 (+6.83%)
Abercrombie & Fitch
+1.11 (+8.75%)
Health Insurance Innovations
-2.3 (-8.18%)
Cardlytics
-31.61 (-36.68%)
Owens & Minor
-0.67 (-10.00%)