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| - Wall Street stocks clung to modest gains at midday as oil prices rallied and the Trump administration signaled plans for stimulus measures in responses to the coronavirus. US stocks had opened significantly higher after Monday's rout, but briefly dipped into the red in late-morning trading, a sign of continued anxiety at uncertainty over the coronavirus. Near 1635 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up just 0.1 percent at 23,879.53 as it sought to win back some of the losses from Monday, when it shed more than 2,000 points in the worst session since 2008. The broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.4 percent to 2,757.84, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 0.9 percent to 8,024.72. Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities, predicted stocks won't really be in the clear until investors have confidence the US cases have peaked. "We are at the beginning of a discovery phase," he said, adding that in the near-term, "it's going to look increasingly worse, until it doesn't." US President Donald Trump is expected to announce stimulus measures later Tuesday, such as tax relief for workers in the gig economy who worry about calling in sick. Trump said in a midday appearance at the White House that he plans to provide assistance to airlines and cruise companies, two especially hard-hit industries, boosting equities in both those sectors. The gains in stocks came as oil prices rallied, with some analysts pointing to more conciliatory statements out of Russia after it failed to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia on a production limit, sending oil prices into free-fall on Friday and Monday. Petroleum-linked shares were mixed with Exxon Mobil and Chevron both in positive territory, but Halliburton and ConocoPhillips were both down more than two percent. Airline shares were also mixed after spiking in response to Trump's comments. United Airlines and JetBlue both won more than three percent, but Delta Air Lines fell 2.1 percent after announcing a host of belt-tightening measures and capacity reductions in response to lower consumer demand. Among cruise companies, Carnival advanced 3.3 percent and Royal Caribbean gained 5.4 percent following Trump's remarks, but Norwegian Cruise Lines dipped 0.8 percent. jmb/cs
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