New York (AFP)

Wall Street ended up Thursday after spending most of the session in the red, bouncing back after statements from the World Health Organization which has not called for travel restrictions despite the epidemic of the new Chinese coronavirus.

Its flagship index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average appreciated by 0.43% to 28,859.44 points.

The highly technological Nasdaq gained 0.26% to 9,298.93 points and the broad S&P 500 index gained 0.31% to 3,283.66 points.

The WHO said on Thursday that the Chinese viral pneumonia epidemic, which has spread to several regions of the world, constitutes an international emergency.

The UN agency, however, has not recommended restrictions on the movement of goods and people around the world.

This announcement allowed the main New York indices, which had hitherto been in decline, to rise at the end of the session.

The toll of the viral pneumonia epidemic increased on Thursday, with at least 170 deaths in China.

- Amazon takes off -

New York indexes also benefited on Thursday from a series of corporate results, most of them positive.

Tesla, which displayed a radiant shape on Wednesday after the close, jumped 10.30%. The group notably said it wanted to deliver more than half a million cars in 2020, which would represent a jump of 36% in one year.

The market value of the manufacturer of high-end electric cars is now higher than that of the three main American car manufacturers, General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler USA.

Coca-Cola (+ 3.25%) saw its quarterly net profit more than double thanks in particular to an increase in sales in Latin America and Asia Pacific.

Microsoft, whose results greatly exceeded expectations thanks to the excellent performance of its "cloud", rose 2.82%.

In contrast, Facebook, which saw its spending soar, fell 6.14%.

Logistics group UPS, which reported disappointing forecasts for 2020, plunged 6.7%.

"Overall, these are very solid results, especially in the technology sector," said Alan Skrainka of Cornerstone Wealth Management.

Amazon published results after the close that were far above expectations. In post-session electronic exchanges, the action of the online commerce giant soared by almost 12%.

Among the indicators, GDP growth in the United States slowed to 2.3% year on year, according to a preliminary estimate from the Commerce Department published Thursday, against 2.9% in 2018. This is much less than the 3% targeted by President Donald Trump.

© 2020 AFP