Wednesday's early trade: S&P, Nasdaq scale new highs

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit all-time highs on Wednesday as hopes that China would take more measures to prop up its economy eased worries about the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. The number of new coronavirus cases also dropped for the second straight day in China, although global health officials cautioned it was too early to predict how the outbreak will play out.

China is widely expected to cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday, which would add to a raft of measures aimed at limiting the impact from business shutdowns and travel curbs on the world's second-largest economy. Recent stimulus from China, confidence in the US economy and hopes that the damage from the outbreak will be short-lived have fueled Wall Street's rally in recent weeks.

"China cutting lending rates ... is further evidence of how far the central banks are willing to go to backstop markets," said David Bahnsen, chief investment officer of Newport Beach, California-based The Bahnsen Group. "The slowdown in China's economy is being perceived as transitory and not structural.

The market does not believe that delayed sales is the same thing as lost sales."

Technology stocks, which are sensitive to news related to China's growth, gained 1.1%, the most among major S&P sectors. Defensive real estate and utilities were in the red. Apple Inc rose 1.6%, recouping most of the ground lost in the previous session on a surprise sales warning that highlighted concerns about global supply chains.

Also helping the technology sector was a 4.7% gain in Nvidia Corp after Bernstein raised its rating on the chipmaker's shares. At 11:27 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.48% to 29,373.56 and the S&P 500 gained 0.60% to 3,390.60. The Nasdaq Composite was up 90.90 points, or 0.93%, at 9,823.65.