US STOCKS-Futures slump on alarm over fast-spreading virus

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* Futures down: Dow 1.36%, S&P 1.30%, Nasdaq 1.52%

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By Medha Singh
Feb 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dropped more
than 1% on Thursday as investors stayed away from making riskier
bets after the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China
deepened worries about growth and corporate earnings.
The number of new infections in China, the source of the
outbreak, was overtaken for the first time by fresh cases
elsewhere on Wednesday, most notably in Italy and Iran.
Adding to worries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention confirmed an infection in California in a person who
reportedly did not have relevant travel history or exposure to
another known patient. "In the recent week, markets have come to realize that the
outbreak is much worse and are now realistically pricing in the
impact of the virus on the economy," said Philip Marey, senior
U.S. strategist at Rabobank.
"In that sense it's a bit of a catching up from the relative
optimism that was there in the beginning when markets thought
(the virus) will be contained to China with some minor outbreak
outside."
Rising fears of a pandemic, which U.S. health authorities
have warned is likely, have erased about $1.84 trillion off the
benchmark S&P 500 .SPX this week alone.
Industry analysts and economists continued to sound the
alarm as they assessed the impact of the coronavirus, with
Goldman Sachs saying U.S. companies will generate no earnings
growth in 2020.
Bank of America slashed its world growth forecast to the
lowest level since the peak of the global financial crisis.
At 7:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 366 points,
or 1.36%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 40.5 points, or 1.3%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 134.25 points, or
1.52%.
All the 30 blue-chip components of the Dow Jones Industrials
.DJI were trading in the red, with Microsoft Corp MSFT.O ,
Apple Inc AAPL.O and Visa Inc V.N down between 2.6% and
3.3%.
Gilead Sciences GILD.O , however, jumped 6.4% as the
drugmaker said it had started two late-stage trials to test its
experimental antiviral drug, remdesivir, in patients with cases
of illness caused by coronavirus. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell to record lows, while
gold rose 0.5%. Oil prices slid to their lowest in more than a
year on fears of lower demand. US/ GOL/ O/R
The S&P 500 .SPX fell for a fifth straight session on
Wednesday as investors worried about the impact of the crisis on
global supply chains, which have already been bruised by drastic
containment measures in China.