The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak an international health emergency during a press conference on Thursday. The coronavirus represents that first respiratory illness to be labeled an international emergency since the H1N1 flu in 2009.
"Our greatest concern is that potential for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems, and which are ill-prepared to deal with it," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO stated. "Let me be clear: This declaration is not a vote of no confidence in China. On the contrary, WHO continues to have confidence in China's capacity to control the outbreak."
In addition, the White House announced Thursday that the country will allow airlines to determine whether or not they will still fly to China. A number of airlines around the globe have announced plans to reduce or halt flights to China, including British Airways, United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL), American Airlines (NASDAQ: AAL), Air Asia, Cathay Pacific (OTC: CPCAY), Air India, IndiGo, Lufthansa (OTC: DLAKY) and Finnair.
Here's how the stock market settled on Thursday:
S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY): +0.31% or +10.26 points to 3,283.66
Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA): +0.43% or +124.99 points to 28,859.44
Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ: QQQ): +0.26% or +23.77 points to 9,298.93
In Major Stock News, Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has continued its rally into Thursday, with share prices increasing over 11% and recording a new high. Altria (NYSE: MO) stated during the company's earnings call that it recorded a fourth-quarter charge of $4.1 billion relation to the company's investment in Juul. Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) shares rose Thursday after the beverage company reported strong fourth-quarter earnings. CEO James Quincey stated that the company's growth was driven by the Coke brand and Coke coffee. Carnival Corp (NYSE: CCL) fell over 3% on Thursday after a Carnival-owned cruise ship in Italy was quarantined over coronavirus fears.
In Stock Sector News, most sectors recovered towards the end of trading after a choppy market on Thursday. The sectors that ended the day with positive performance gains include Financials +1.25%, Consumer Staples +1.05%, Utilities +0.89%, Energy +0.88%, Information Technology +0.88%, Real Estate +0.26% and Industrials +0.08%. The few that did not recover include Communication Services -0.79%, Health Care -0.78%, Materials -0.59% and Consumer Discretionary -0.07%.
Lastly, in Commodity and Currency News, crude oil prices continue their ongoing descent as the coronavirus exceeds the 2003 SARS outbreak and its future effects on the global economy become more uncertain. West Texas Intermediate (NYSE: USO) dropped over -0.50% and Brent Crude (NYSE: BNO) plunged over -0.90%. Gold (NYSE: GLD) had a rough trading day as well, with share prices dropping near -0.20%. Finally, the U.S. Dollar lost much of the performance growth it had accumulated over the past couple of sessions, with the DXY Index declining over -0.20%.