US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq on track for record closing highs

* IBM shares jump on strong forecast, earnings
* Boeing extends its losses after 737 MAX delay
* Tesla zooms past $100 bln market value
* Indexes up: Dow 0.20%, S&P 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.51%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street rebounded on
Wednesday as a healthy forecast from IBM enticed buyers back to
the equity market while investors kept a wary eye on the
developing coronavirus outbreak.
Tech shares led all three major U.S. stock averages into the
black, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq setting a course to notch
new record closing highs, the day after virus fears prompted a
sell-off.
"The toggling up and down has to do with short term
valuations," said Matthew Keator, managing partner in the Keator
Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts.
"Investors have to remain cautious in the short term because
price matters."
Optimism was boosted by International Business Machines
IBM.N , which posted surprise quarterly revenue growth and
forecast higher-than-expected full-year profit. Its shares were
up 3.2%, and provided the biggest lift to the blue-chip Dow.
Chipmakers rose following a strong forecast from Dutch
semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV ASML.AS .
The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index .SOX was up 1.0%.
Global precautions have been put in place to curb a viral
outbreak from China, which has now claimed 17 lives. The World
Health Organization (WHO) has convened to determine whether the
situation was a global health emergency.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 59.26 points,
or 0.2%, to 29,255.3, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.61 points, or
0.29%, to 3,330.4 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 48.12
points, or 0.51%, to 9,418.93.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 seven were trading in
positive territory. Tech .SPLRCT was up the most, while energy
.SPNY was the biggest laggard.
Fourth-quarter earnings season is well under way, with 58
companies in the S&P 500 having reported, 67.2% of which have
beaten analyst expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
Analysts now expect fourth-quarter earnings to have
contracted by 0.8% year-on-year.0.2
Streaming pioneer Neftlix Inc NFLX.O acknowledged stiffer
competition in the United States, where quarterly growth fell
short of analyst estimates. Its shares were down 3.4%.
Shares of Boeing Co BA.N extended their fall, dropping
1.5% in the wake of the planemaker's announcement that it does
not expect approval for its 737 MAX aircraft to return to
service until summer. Tesla Inc TSLA.O extended its rally, rising 6.1% and
becoming the first publicly listed U.S. automaker to cross the
$100 billion market valuation mark. On the economic front, sales of existing homes in December
blew past economist estimates to reach a near two-year high.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.36-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.27-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 108 new 52-week highs and 2 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 154 new highs and 23 new lows.