Stocks Ended Lower as Coronavirus Fears Lingered

U.S. stocks ended lower on Thursday, as concerns over the spread of Coronavirus in China and neighboring countries appeared to be a factor in market weakness. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128.05 points, or 0.44%, to 29,219.98. The S&P 500 declined 12.92 points, or 0.38%, to 3,373.23. The Nasdaq Composite lost 66.21 points, or 0.67%, to 9,750.96.

Oil futures finished higher on Thursday, buoyed by a smaller-than-expected weekly increase in U.S. crude supplies. U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery rose 49 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $53.78 a barrel. April Brent crude rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $59.31 a barrel.

Telecom giants Sprint (S) and T-Mobile (TMUS) are near agreement on new merger terms, Dow Jones reports. Under the terms, Deutsche Telekom will now own 43% of the combined company.

Dropbox Inc on Thursday reported quarterly revenue that beat Wall Street estimates. It had 14.3 million paid subscribers at the end of the quarter.Revenue rose 18.6% to $446 million, edging past the average analysts’ estimate of $443.3 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.