U.S. stocks rebounded late to close higher on Thursday after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency, while earnings painted a mixed picture.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first U.S. case of person-to-person spread of the virus, the WHO said recent weeks have seen an unprecedented outbreak, met by an unprecedented response. It said it was not recommending limiting trade or travel to China.

"The market is starting to look at this and say at some point in time this will crest and the news will start getting better," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

"Precautions are being taken and that means at some point there will be light at the end of the tunnel, that is when the market reacts constructively."

Facebook shares slumped by 6.14 percent after the social media company warned of slowing growth as its business matured and it reported a surge in quarterly expenses.

The decline weighed on the S&P communication services index, which lost 0.79 percent. Defensive sectors such as utilities and consumer staples, considered safer in times of economic uncertainties, advanced.

The main U.S. stock indexes are on course for their second straight week of declines as the virus has disrupted global travel and forced several companies to suspend operations in China.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 124.99 points, or 0.43 percent, to 28,859.44, the S&P 500 gained 10.26 points, or 0.31, to 3,283.66 and the Nasdaq Composite added 23.77 points, or 0.26 percent, to 9,298.93.

Earnings expectations have been slowly improving for S&P 500 companies, with Refinitiv data showing a 0.7 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, compared with a 0.6 percent decline estimated at the start of the season.

Microsoft Corp gained by 2.82 percent after it beat expectations for quarterly earnings, driven by Azure cloud computing revenue growth.

Tesla Inc jumped by 10.30 percent after the maker of electric cars posted a second straight quarterly profit as vehicle deliveries hit a record.

Altria Inc slid by 4.21 percent after the tobacco company said it took another four billion U.S. dollars charge on its investment in Juul Labs Inc.

Package delivery firm United Parcel Service Inc dropped by 6.70 percent after it forecast full-year earnings below estimates.

After the close, Amazon gained by 10 percent after fourth-quarter revenue topped expectations.

In Aisa, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Friday after the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus an international emergency but held off on recommending restrictions on movement of people.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index gained by 0.81 percent or 186.95 points to 23,164.70 in early trade, while the broader Topix index was up by 0.62 percent or 10.33 points at 1,685.10.

Hong Kong stocks gained by 308.48 points, or 1.17 percent, to open at 26,757.61 points.

(With input from Reuters)