US STOCKS- Wall Street edges higher a day after sharp sell-off

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* Comms sector leads percentage gains, energy lags
* Home Depot shares rise 1.8% after Q$ EPS, sales beat
* Indexes up: Dow 0.28%, S&P 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.42%

By Sinéad Carew
NEW YORK, Feb 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes ticked
slightly higher on Tuesday as investors dipped their toes in the
water a day after worries about the the worldwide spread of the
coronavirus sent the S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials to their
biggest daily declines in two years.
Investors have been laser focused on the potential economic
impact of the virus outbreak.
On Tuesday Iran's death toll rose to 16, the highest outside
China, while dozens of countries from South Korea to Italy
accelerated emergency measures. "Today is just a bounce back after yesterday's very dramatic
sell off," said Kenny Polcari, senior market strategist at
SlateStone Wealth LLC in Jupiter, Florida, adding that long term
investors were likely bargain hunting.
But the strategist cautioned: "I don't think the virus story
is over yet. When it hits the United States there's going to be
another round of selling."
U.S. stock indexes declined sharply in the past three
sessions with fears of a pandemic knocking off more than 3% on
Monday after a flare up in infections in several countries.
As of Monday's close, the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow Jones
Industrials .DJI had erased their gains for the year.
Last week, positive fourth-quarter earnings and hopes of
limited damage from the virus outbreak had pushed Wall Street to
record highs.
At 9:59 a.m. ET (1459 GMT), the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 78.56 points, or 0.28%, to 28,039.36, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 7.73 points, or 0.24%, to 3,233.62 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 39.19 points, or 0.42%, to 9,260.47.
Of the S&P's 11 industry sectors, communications services
.SPLRCL and technology .SPLRCT were the biggest gainers,
each rising about 0.5%. Energy .SPNY was the biggest laggard
as oil prices dipped.
Shares of Dow-member Home Depot Inc HD.N rose 1.8% after
the home improvement chain beat quarterly sales and profit
estimates providing one of the biggest boosts to the S&P 500.
Department store operator Macy's Inc M.N also fell 1% even
after a smaller-than-expected drop in quarterly same-store
sales. HP Inc HPQ.N gained 5% after the company said it would
step up efforts to slash costs and buy back stock, as it seeks
investor support to defend against a $35 billion takeover offer
from U.S. printer maker Xerox Holdings Corp XRX.N .
Among other stocks, Perrigo PRGO.K rose 5% after the
drugmaker gained the first U.S. approval for a generic version
of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's TEVA.TA respiratory
drug, ProAir.
Mastercard Inc MA.N shares fell 1% after announcing Chief
Executive Officer Ajay Banga would step down at the start of the
next year and be replaced by products head Michael Miebach.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
1.21-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.13-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 2 new 52-week highs and 15 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 17 new highs and 43 new lows.