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| - US stocks continued to advance on Tuesday as traders monitored testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and shrugged off fears of widespread disruption from the new coronavirus in China. After warning that the viral epidemic poses a "very grave" threat to global health, the World Health Organization is holding a conference in Geneva to fight the disease that has now infected more than 42,000 people and reached some 25 countries. In his semi-annual testimony to Congress, Powell once again said the Fed was "closely monitoring" the virus, "which could lead to disruptions in China that spill over to the rest of the global economy." But stocks have mostly risen over the last week as investors view the virus as unlikely to have a lasting negative impact on global growth. Less than an hour into the trading session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.4 percent at 29,387.91. The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 3,371.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.7 percent at 9,693.68, both moving beyond the record close set Monday. Shares of Sprint surged 73.8 percent to $8.34 in early trading, while T-Mobile jumped 11.2 percent to $94.02 after a federal judge signed off on their merger in a ruling Tuesday. Investors are looking ahead to Friday's release of retail sales data in addition to US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's testimony to the Senate on Wednesday on President Donald Trump's budget for next year. The administration's budget proposal, released Monday, dropped the goal of eliminating the federal deficit over the next 10 years. In his prepared remarks to the House Financial Services Committee, Powell renewed his argument for a more sustainable federal budget that would lower the deficit and give policymakers wiggle room to stabilize the economy in case of a recession. cs/hs
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