Strong earnings reports send stocks higher on Wall Street

Stocks are off to another strong start on Wall Street as strong earnings reports from big U.S. companies got investors to set aside worries about a spreading virus in China. General Electric, Textron and Norfolk Southern all rose Wednesday after turning in solid results. Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.8% after its markets reopened from Lunar New Year holidays. The S&P 500 rose 13 points, or 0.4%, to 3,289. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 171, or 0.6%, to 28,894, and the Nasdaq rose 51, or 0.6%, to 9,319. Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 1.63%.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Shares advanced in most European and Asian markets on Wednesday after a rebound on Wall Street reversed most losses from a sell-off the day before.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 2.8%, to 27,174.43 after its markets reopened from Lunar New Year holidays, while other Chinese markets remained closed.

The U.S. rally overnight snapped a two-day skid driven by fears that the spread of a new virus in China could snag global economic growth. China reported Wednesday that the virus has sickened more than 6,000 people in China and over a dozen other countries and killed 132 people.

Germany's DAX lost less than 0.1% to 13,317.76, while the CAC 40 in Paris picked up 0.2% to 5,937.74. In London, the FTSE 100 rose 0.2% to 7,491.56. Wall Street looked set for a steady start, with the future contracts for the S&P 500 and the Dow up 0.1%.

Investors appeared to have placed their concerns about the virus’ potential economic impact on the back burner. China's central bank moved Wednesday to reassure them, with the official Xinhua News Agency saying it was prepared to ensure enough cash would be available throughout the financial system...