NEW YORK, Feb 4 — Wall Street stocks jumped early today, gaining for a second straight session as fears eased over an economic hit from the coronavirus.

Major US indices were up more than one per cent, with analysts citing economic stimulus measures by the People’s Bank of China as cushioning the blow in that country, as well as the extremely limited spread of the ailment so far in the United States.

About 15 minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 28,787.41, up 1.4 per cent.

The broad-based S&P 500 gained 1.2 per cent to 3,289.00, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 1.3 per cent to 9,397.35.

The gains early today added to the February advance after Friday’s rout on rising fears that the virus outbreak would derail global growth.

But a note from Charles Schwab pointed out that, based on past disease outbreaks, a "short-term dip in stocks tended to be followed by the continuation of the upward trend.”

Among individual companies, Tesla continued to rocket higher, adding another 12.6 per cent after jumping nearly 20 per cent yesterday following a run of strong results.

Google parent Alphabet slid 3.7 per cent after reporting fourth-quarter sales that missed expectations despite stellar growth at YouTube and in their cloud-oriented businesses. — AFP