NEW YORK (Reuters) - The S&P 500 ended modestly higher on Friday following strong earnings from Nvidia and a report late in the session that the White House was considering a tax incentive for Americans to buy stocks.

Uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus epidemic and downbeat economic data had put a damper on investor sentiment for much of the day.

But a CNBC report that the Trump administration could introduce a tax incentive for people earning less than $200,000 to invest up to $10,000 in U.S. stocks gave the markets a late boost.

“In an election year, especially when the president is getting backlash that the tax cut benefits only the rich, seeking a way to democratize the stock market to low income earners would be a popular maneuver,” said Joseph Sroka, chief investment officer at NovaPoint in Atlanta.

While the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed modestly higher, the Dow lost ground.

The three major stock averages headed into the U.S. holiday weekend having posted their second consecutive weekly advances.

The coronavirus, now called Covid-19, has taken 1,380 lives and infected 63,851 people, according to Chinese authorities.

In a recent Reuters survey of 40 economists, the respondents see China’s economy in the current quarter suffering its slowest growth since the financial crisis, but believe the downturn will be short-lived if the outbreak is contained.

“The true economic implications of the coronavirus are still unknown,” Sroka said, adding “at the end of the day, earnings matter more for the sustainability of stocks than near-term headlines.”

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., February 6, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

Indeed, of the 387 companies in the S&P 500 having reported fourth-quarter results, 77.4% have surprised Wall Street expectations to the upside, according to Refinitiv data.

Analysts now see fourth-quarter earnings rising at an annual pace of 2.6%, a striking reversal of the 0.3% decline seen on Jan 1.

In economic news, lackluster retail sales and industrial production data appeared to justify the U.S. Federal Reserve’s wait-and-see stance regarding its accommodative monetary policy, reiterated by Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier this week in Washington.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 25.23 points, or 0.09%, to 29,398.08, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 6.22 points, or 0.18%, to 3,380.16 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 19.21 points, or 0.2%, to 9,731.18.

Seven of the 11 major sectors in the S&P 500 closed in the black, with defensive real estate .SPLRCR and utilities .SPLRCU stocks seeing the biggest gains.

Energy shares .SPNY were the biggest losers.

NVIDIA Corp NVDA.O jumped 7.0% after the chipmaker's beat-and-raise earnings report, even as it forecast a $100 million hit from the coronavirus.

Online travel services platform Expedia Inc EXPE.O surged 11.0% after the online travel services company forecast strong quarterly core earnings despite uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 virus.

EBay Inc EBAY.O gained 2.6% after providing better-than-expected current-quarter profit guidance.

Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a 1.11-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 1.24-to-1 ratio favored decliners.

The S&P 500 posted 74 new 52-week highs and five new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 130 new highs and 60 new lows.

Volume on U.S. exchanges was 6.60 billion shares, compared with the 7.62 billion average over the last 20 trading days.