Stocks open higher on Wall Street following 2 steep drops

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are opening higher on Wall Street as the market finds its footing following back-to-back drops of more than 3% as fears spread about economic fallout from the virus outbreak. Technology stocks and banks did well in early trading Wednesday. Bond prices fell back a bit after soaring over the past few days, a sign that investors were feeling a little less nervous. The S&P 500 rose 19 points, or 0.6%, to 3,148. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 157 points, or 0.6%, to 27,237. The Nasdaq added 85 points, or 1%, to 9,048. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 1.36%.

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

Global shares fell sharply once again Wednesday as fears over the speed of the new coronavirus around the world accentuated.

With the spread around Europe gathering pace — Greece became the latest country to reveal its first case — investors are getting increasingly concerned about how long it will take for the world to bring the outbreak under some sort of control. United Airlines and Mastercard are just two of the many companies that have warned about the impact of the outbreak on their finances.

“What we appear to be seeing is the realisation that global economic growth could well come to a halt as the combined effects of a flu virus and belated attempts to stem the spread of it across the globe, raise the prospect of an economic sneeze, as consumers stop spending, and supply chains seize up, due to workers and consumers staying at home," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

Given the wide array of concerns, it's hardly surprising that traders have hit the sell button. Many stock indexes around the world have seen their gains this year wiped out.

In Europe on Wednesday, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down...