US STOCKS-U.S. factory strength helps Wall St rebound from coronavirus fears

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* U.S. manufacturing rebounds in January
* Google-parent Alphabet rises ahead of results
* Tesla shares soar after Panasonic battery report
* Gilead gains as drug to be tested to counter coronavirus
* Indexes up: Dow 0.5%, S&P 0.73%, Nasdaq 1.2%

(Updates to mid afternoon)
By Lewis Krauskopf
Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday, helped by
gains in heavyweight technology shares and surprise strength in
U.S. manufacturing activity, as stocks rebounded after a sharp
selloff last week sparked by concerns about fallout from a virus
out of China.
U.S. factory activity unexpectedly rebounded in January
after contracting for five straight months amid a surge in new
orders, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).
The data helped stocks recover after the S&P 500 .SPX last
week suffered its biggest weekly percentage drop in about six
months amid concerns the coronavirus spread could hurt economic
growth.
“Investors are looking beyond the potential negative impacts
of the coronavirus," said Michael Arone, chief investment
strategist at State Street Global Advisors in Boston.
"Historically, these events have proven to be a buying
opportunity for investors, and there could be an element of
folks getting comfortable with where we are with the coronavirus
moving forward.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 140.04 points,
or 0.5%, to 28,396.07, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 23.5 points, or
0.73%, to 3,249.02 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 109.97
points, or 1.2%, to 9,260.91.
Microsoft MSFT.O shares rose 2.0%, leading a 1.0% rise for
the S&P 500 technology sector .SPLRCT .
Shares of Google parent Alphabet GOOGL.O gained 3.1% ahead
of the company's quarterly results due after the market close on
Monday.
Ten of the 11 major S&P 500 sectors rose, with energy
.SPNY the lone group in negative territory as crude prices
dropped.
Investors were eyeing a busy U.S. political week. Democrats
in Iowa kicked off the party's nominating process on Monday.

The U.S. Senate was due to vote on Wednesday on whether to
remove President Trump from office following the impeachment
process, although the Republican-controlled legislative body was
expected to acquit him. In company news, Tesla shares TSLA.O soared 16.0% as
Panasonic Corp 6752.T reported the first quarterly profit in
its U.S. battery business with the electric vehicle maker.
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O shares gained 5.6% after the
drugmaker said it has provided its experimental Ebola therapy
for use in a small number of patients with the coronavirus.
Nike NKE.N shares rose 3.6% after JP Morgan added the
stock to its focus list. Fourth-quarter earnings season is about halfway done, with
228 S&P 500 companies having reported and with earnings expected
to have climbed 1.1% in the period, according to IBES data from
Refinitiv.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
1.99-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 2.01-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 24 new 52-week highs and 9 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 66 new lows.