S&P/ASX 200 gains 1.1% in its second-best day so far in 2020

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) rallied 122 points or 1.8% in early trade today following a ~4% jump on Wall Street but the market was unable to maintain the enthusiasm through the afternoon. The index ended the day 70 points or 1.1% higher at 6395.7 While the gain was not enough to recoup losses from yesterday, it was still the second-best daily performance so far in 2020. The healthcare, consumer staples and communications sectors improved most while materials and financials underperformed. TPG upgrades earnings guidance The biggest improver on the ASX 200 was TPG Telecom (ASX:TPM) which jumped 9.5%. TPG released its half-yearly results and upgraded its FY20 earnings (EBITDA) guidance by ~5% to a range of $775 million and $785 million. Some of the larger miners were weaker with BHP Group (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) trading ex-dividend. Both were higher in the early hours of trade but Rio ended the day 1.7% weaker while BHP saw a decline of 0.7%. Coronavirus impact There are concerns about the potential impact of the coronavirus outbreak to the Australian economy with the Reserve Bank and Treasury anticipating a 0.5% hit to economic growth over the March quarter. The Aussie dollar is still buoyant buying 66.3 US cents on a better than expected trading surplus in January.