US STOCKS-S&P 500 gains, Nasdaq hits new high as investors eye earnings, coronavirus

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* WHO says 'too early' to declare virus an emergency
* Gilead explores Ebola drug as possible coronavirus
treatment
* Travelers, Comcast sink after results
* Indexes: Dow down 0.09%, S&P up 0.11%, Nasdaq up 0.20%

(Updates to market close)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended slightly
higher and the Nasdaq eked out a record closing high on
Thursday, helped by a jump in Netflix, while news about the
coronavirus outbreak spreading from China and mixed earnings
results kept a lid on the market.
The S&P and the Nasdaq had both been trading down before
news late in the session that Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O was
assessing its experimental Ebola drug as a possible treatment
for the virus.
The Dow ended modestly lower.
Even as health officials in China put millions of people on
lockdown in efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which
has so far claimed 18 lives, the World Health Organization (WHO)
said it was "a bit too early" to declare a global health
emergency.
"The virus is, if not a diversion, it's something the
traders are going to capitalize on," said Chuck Carlson, chief
executive officer at Horizon Investment Services in Hammond,
Indiana. "It matters, but it matters to a subset of the market,
not with investors who are looking past the next 24 hours."
The outbreak has strained global equity markets, just as
millions of Chinese are preparing to travel for the Lunar New
Year, which begins Saturday. The fourth-quarter reporting season is gathering steam, with
analysts now expecting fourth-quarter earnings to contract by
0.7% from a year ago. Of the 74 companies in the S&P 500 that
have already posted results, 67.6% have beaten consensus
expectations, according to Refinitiv data.
"Today we've got a situation where we've got a flat market,
which would indicate that markets are comfortable with earnings
and that expectations had risen given the rally going into the
earnings season," Carlson said.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 26.18 points,
or 0.09%, to 29,160.09, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 3.79 points,
or 0.11%, to 3,325.54, and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
18.71 points, or 0.2%, to 9,402.48.
Of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500, six closed in the
red. Healthcare .SPXHC was the biggest percentage loser, while
industrials .SPLRCI enjoyed the largest gain.
Insurance bellwether Travelers Cos Inc TRV.N reported a
better-than-expected quarterly profit, with underwriting gains
tripling and catastrophe losses falling. Nevertheless, the
company's shares dropped 5.1%, and were the biggest drag on the
blue-chip Dow. Comcast Corp CMCSA.O beat Street estimates but lost more
subscribers than analysts expected, sending its shares down
3.8%. Freeport-McMoRan FCX.N results also came in above
expectations, but investors focused on the mining company's drop
in Indonesia production. Its stock fell 2.8%. Among winners, Union Pacific Corp UNP.N gained 3.5% after
the rail operator said the Phase 1 U.S.-China trade pact should
reverse slumping volumes. Netflix NFLX.O jumped 7.2%, rebounding from losses sparked
by a disappointing forecast earlier in the week.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.01-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.15-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 53 new 52-week highs and four new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 98 new highs and 44 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 7.52 billion shares, compared
with the 6.87 billion average over the last 20 trading days.