By Michael Wursthorn and Avantika Chilkoti 

Disappointing economic data sapped major U.S. stock indexes of some of their gains, undercutting an earnings-fueled stock market rebound.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 117 points, or 0.4%, to 28787, giving up some of its more-than-200-point advance from earlier in the session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up nearly 0.2%.

The stock market relinquished some of its gains after a report showed pending home sales had slipped in December across all regions of the U.S. The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday 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.

That jolted some investors who had grown accustomed to the string of rosy economic reports.

"Housing numbers came in weaker than expected and that dropped the market back a bit," said Larry Peruzzi, managing director of international equity trading at Mischler Financial.

Losses likely would have been more severe without the solid performances of several stocks following better-than-expected earnings and other corporate actions, Mr. Peruzzi added.

Shares of Apple, the most valuable company in the U.S., advanced 2.2% after reporting 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 2.1% 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 12% 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 2.6%, after the aerospace giant posted its first annual loss in more than two decades due to ongoing issues surrounding its 737 MAX jets.

The latest earnings results helped shift investors' attention away from a dangerous new coronavirus that has been spreading across Asia and other parts of the world. 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 had jumped over the weekend.

Still, the virus continues to affect financial markets in other parts of the world, specifically Asia. 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%.

Investors will turn their attention to the Federal Reserve this afternoon. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady following the conclusion of its latest policy meeting, but some investors said they are instead 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.

"There is not going to be any fireworks there," said Richard McGuire, head of rates strategy at Rabobank. "He's likely to reiterate his previous stance, which is that the current policy is appropriate."

--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 11:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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