US STOCKS-Wall Street steady as virus fears build; E*Trade surges on buyout deal

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* Morgan Stanley falls on $13 bln deal to buy E*Trade
* E*Trade on pace for best day in more than a decade
* L Brands skids on deal to sell Victoria's Secret
* Futures down: Dow 0.08%, S&P 0.04%, Nasdaq 0.21%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed on
Thursday as a rise in the number of coronavirus cases outside
China raised more concerns about the global impact of the
epidemic, while a multi-billion dollar buyout deal for E*Trade
Financial Corp boosted shares of the online discount brokerage.
E*Trade ETFC.O jumped 24.2% after Morgan Stanley MS.N
offered to buy it in a $13 billion stock deal, the biggest
acquisition by a Wall Street bank since the global financial
crisis. Morgan Stanley's shares fell 3.9%.
The mood elsewhere was more subdued, as the number of new
coronavirus cases climbed in South Korea and Japan reported two
new deaths. Research also suggested that the virus was spreading
faster than previously thought. "There is still uncertainty about how long this (outbreak)
is going to last and how big the economic effect is going to be,
not just on China, but on supply chains around the world," Scott
Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg,
Florida, said.
Recent data from China has pointed to a slowdown in the
outbreak, but the figures partly reflect a change in the
diagnostic method, adding a degree of skepticism to whether the
daily tallies accurately reflect the spread of the virus.
"There is longer term optimism," said Brown. "Once (the
virus) is contained, you are going to see a snap back in
growth."
Recent policy easing by China, a largely
better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings season and hopes
that the economic jolt from the coronavirus will be short-lived
have pushed Wall Street's main indexes to new highs in recent
weeks. Investors also digested comments from U.S. Federal Reserve
Vice Chair Richard Clarida, who showed little alarm about the
potential of the coronavirus outbreak to alter the central
bank's interest rate policy and said the domestic economy is
strong. At 10:00 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 19.67 points, or 0.07%, at 29,328.36; the S&P 500 .SPX
was down 0.41 points, or 0.01%, at 3,385.74; and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC fell 3.95 points, or 0.04%, to 9,813.23.
Five of the 11 major S&P sectors were lower with healthcare
stocks .SPXHC leading losses. Energy stocks .SPNY firmed
0.6%, tracking higher oil prices. O/R
In other corporate news, ViacomCBS Inc VIAC.O slumped 18%
as its earnings fell short of revenue and profit expectations in
its first quarterly earnings results since closing its merger.
L Brands Inc LB.N slid 2.2% on plans to sell a majority
stake in its Victoria's Secret unit to investment firm Sycamore
Partners, valuing the lingerie brand at $1.1 billion.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.48-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.25-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 21 new 52-week highs and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 76 new highs and 28 new lows.