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| - Wall Street stocks advanced early Friday following strong earnings reports from American Express and Intel as markets monitored the latest news on a significant virus outbreak in China. American Express jumped 4.5 percent after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings on a solid holiday shopping season, while fellow Dow member Intel surged 7.7 percent on higher profits as it boosted its dividend. The good earnings capped a week of mixed results for US corporate giants. Next week's calendar includes results from Apple, Boeing and Exxon Mobil as well as a Federal Reserve meeting. About 20 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 29,240.90, up 0.3 percent. The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.1 percent to 3,327,10, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.3 percent to 9,431.78. Markets have been choppy in the wake of the coronavirus, which has caused 26 fatalities and led to a quarantine in China of 13 cities. Investors took heart in a World Health Organization determination Thursday that stopped short of declaring a global emergency, concluding for now that the economic impact has been localized to China. jmb/dg
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