By Michael Wursthorn and Avantika Chilkoti 

Major U.S. stock indexes rose Wednesday, as a string of solid corporate profit reports helped the market overcome disappointing economic data and ongoing fears stemming from a spreading coronavirus outbreak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently added 160 points, or 0.6%, to 28883. The S&P 500 rose 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.5%.

Solid corporate profit reports from Apple, the most valuable company in the U.S., industrial conglomerate General Electric and fast-food chain McDonald's sent shares of those companies higher and helped put all three major indexes on track for back-to-back days of gains.

The earnings enthusiasm also helped stocks overcome an early-session stumble after a report showed pending home sales had slipped in December across all regions of the U.S. and shift attention away from a dangerous new coronavirus. The Dow industrials fell roughly 454 points on Monday, its biggest single-day drop since October, after the number of people infected and killed by the virus jumped over the weekend.

"The focus is moving more to the fundamentals and that's a good thing," said Larry Peruzzi, managing director of international equity trading at Mischler Financial, referring to the string of rosy earnings reports.

Shares of Apple, the most valuable company in the U.S., advanced 2.8% after the company reportec better-than-expected earnings and revenue in the latest quarter. General Electric also gave the market a boost after the industrial conglomerate gave an upbeat outlook for 2020, sending shares up 10%. And shares of McDonald's rose 2.2% after the fast-food chain also topped analysts' expectations.

Other big movers in the stock market on Wednesday included Victoria's Secret parent L Brands and Boeing.

L Brands jumped 13% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Chief Executive Leslie Wexner is in discussions to step aside and is exploring strategic alternatives for the lingerie brand, citing people familiar with the matter.

Boeing, meanwhile, added 1.5%, after the aerospace giant posted its first annual loss in more than two decades due to ongoing issues surrounding its 737 MAX jets. Shares remain down 12% over the past 12 months.

Those stocks and others relinquished some of their gains after the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday morning that pending sales had fallen 4.9% in December from November, far short of the 1% rise economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had been expecting.

But stocks had recouped most of their lost ground by midday ahead of the conclusion of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting.

The central bank held interest rates steady, as expected. Investors said they instead are watching for clues on how the Fed thinks about the economy, the health of the repo market and the potential economic impact of the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, financial markets in other parts of the world continued to feel the effects of the coronavirus. In Hong Kong, where markets opened for trading for the first time since the Lunar New Year holidays began, the benchmark Hang Seng Index closed down 2.8%.

--Steven Russolillo contributed to the article.

Write to Michael Wursthorn at Michael.Wursthorn@wsj.com and Avantika Chilkoti at Avantika.Chilkoti@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2020 14:28 ET (19:28 GMT)