US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq notch new records on optimism coronavirus may plateau soon

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* Sprint, T Mobile jump after winning approval for deal
* Under Armour slumps after surprise sales drop forecast
* Fed Chair Powell begins two-day testimony before Congress
* Indexes up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 0.43%, Nasdaq 0.46%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Feb 11 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq indexes hit
record highs on Tuesday as a top Chinese health adviser sparked
expectations that the coronavirus outbreak may be peaking, while
T-Mobile shares jumped after a federal judge approved its
purchase of Sprint.
T-Mobile US TMUS.O climbed 11.2% to the top of the
benchmark S&P 500, while Sprint shares surged 73.8%. Larger
rival Verizon Communications Inc VZ.N slipped 0.5%, weighing
on the communication services sector. AT&T Inc T.N rose 1.1%.
After more than 1,000 deaths and weeks of uncertainty that
roiled global financial markets, China's foremost medical
adviser on the epidemic said infections may be over by April,
with the number of new cases already declining in some places.
However, the hit to the world's second-largest economy was
still unclear as factories struggled to resume production after
an extended holiday.
"For the time-being, investors are willing to say 'we are
going to invest in what we know' and what we know right now is
that the U.S. economy is in pretty good shape, earnings have
been better than expected and the Fed continues to have our
back," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National
Securities in New York.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was fairly upbeat about
the outlook for the U.S. economy in his prepared remarks to
Congress on Tuesday, but cited a potential threat from the
coronavirus outbreak. The communication services .SPLRCL sector was the only
major S&P sector in the red. Cyclical sectors such as technology
.SPLRCT and financials .SPSY provided the biggest boosts to
the benchmark index.
At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
rose 0.29% to 29,361.15 and the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.43% to
3,366.58. The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 44.29 points, or
0.46%, at 9,672.68.
The fourth-quarter earnings season has been largely upbeat,
with about 71% of the 324 S&P 500 companies that have reported
beating profit estimates.
Hasbro Inc HAS.O rose 2% on better-than-expected quarterly
profit, but Under Armour Inc UA.N tumbled 16.2% after it
forecast a surprise drop in 2020 revenue. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.40-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.17-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 68 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 107 new highs and 29 new lows.