US STOCKS-Nasdaq hits record high as China stimulus soothes virus worries

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* Indexes up: Dow 1.65%, S&P 1.68%, Nasdaq 2.01%
* Ralph Lauren climbs after profit beat
* Alphabet slips as Google's ad business disappoints
* U.S. factory orders post biggest rise in about 1-1/2 yrs

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Medha Singh
Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq hit a record high on Tuesday
and the S&P 500 headed for its best day in six months as fears
of a heavy economic impact from the coronavirus epidemic tapered
off after China's central bank intervened for the second
straight day.
The Dow Industrials .DJI was on pace for its biggest daily
percentage gain in eight months. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX
had more than made up for last week's 2% loss, which was its
steepest weekly drop in six months.
China injected 1.7 trillion yuan ($242.74 billion) via
reverse repos on Monday and Tuesday, helping Chinese stocks
recover some losses and lifting the world equity index
.MIWD00000PUS . The stimulus boosted investor sentiment even as several
economists cut forecasts for 2020 global growth as the
fast-spreading virus hampers business operations in the world's
second-largest economy. "If China is doing what it needs to contain the worst-case
scenario from a financial perspective, then maybe the weakness
we saw last week was a little overdone," said Willie Delwiche,
investment strategist at Baird.
Technology stocks .SPLRCT , which are typically sensitive
to growth-related concerns in China, led the charge with their
2.6% gain. The China-focused Philadelphia SE semiconductor index
.SOX climbed 3.1%.
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O dropped 2.8% after Google's
advertising business and new data about YouTube and Google Cloud
broadly disappointed. At 12:47 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 469.46 points, or 1.65%, at 28,869.27, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 54.49 points, or 1.68%, at 3,303.41. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 186.51 points, or 2.01%, at 9,459.92.
Adding to the optimism was data that showed new orders for
U.S.-made goods rose by the most in nearly one and a half years
in December. It comes a day after a surprise rebound in factory
activity in January. The fourth-quarter earnings season is half done and nearly
70% of companies that have reported so far have surpassed
earnings estimates.
Ralph Lauren Corp RL.N jumped 11.5% after the retailer's
holiday-quarter profit beat market expectations. Investors were also keeping an eye on the U.S. Democratic
presidential nominating race, where technical problems delayed
Iowa caucus results. Results are expected at 5 p.m. ET.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.24-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.98-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 63 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 111 new highs and 39 new lows.