US STOCKS-Wall St ends sharply lower, hit by bond yields and COVID-19 worries

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* 10-year Treasury yields reach highest level since Jan 2020
* Weekly jobless claims rise unexpectedly in the latest week
* Growth stocks underperform value names

(Updates with close of trading)
By Noel Randewich
March 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street ended sharply lower on
Thursday, hit by rising Treasury yields and fresh worries about
the coronavirus pandemic in Europe.
Losses in U.S. stocks accelerated after France's prime
minister imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and several
other regions due to the health crisis. The S&P 500 energy sector index .SPN tumbled as oil prices
fell, in part due to worries about rising COVID-19 cases in
Europe. "That last hit was from news of the Paris lockdown. It
wasn't received that well," said Joe Saluzzi, co-manager of
trading at Themis Trading in Chatham, New Jersey. "Here in the
United States, we anticipate this big reopening and the virus is
looking good, but we are not looking outside of the U.S., and
it's not all good."
The Russell 1000 value index .RLV , which is heavily
comprised of cyclical stocks such as financials and energy,
ended lower, while the Russell 1000 growth index .RLG , which
includes technology stocks, dropped more than 1%.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasuries US10YT=RR
crossed 1.75% to hit a 14-month high a day after the Fed
projected the strongest growth in nearly 40 years as the
COVID-19 crisis winds down. The Fed also repeated its pledge to
keep its target interest rate near zero for years to come.

"The Fed just saying they are not going to raise rates until
2023 really means nothing," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment
strategist at Inverness Counsel in New York. "The Fed is on the
sidelines, but if bond yields keep going up, that is what really
hurts the economy."
Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O both dropped.
Tech and other growth stocks are particularly sensitive to
rising yields because their value rests heavily on earnings far
into the future, which are discounted more deeply when bond
yields rise.
A recent $1.9 trillion spending stimulus sparked fears of
rising inflation and contributed to the jump in longer-end
Treasury yields.
Underscoring the staggered recovery in the labor market,
data showed the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits
unexpectedly rose last week. A separate report indicated the Philly Fed business index
jumped more than expected, to its highest level since 1973.
Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell
153 points, or 0.46%, to 32,862.37, the S&P 500 .SPX lost
58.62 points, or 1.48%, to 3,915.5 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC dropped 409.03 points, or 3.02%, to 13,116.17.
The S&P 500 and the Dow both closed at record highs on
Wednesday.
Accenture ACN.N rose after the IT consulting firm raised
its full-year revenue forecast and reported second-quarter
revenue above analysts' estimates, as more businesses used its
digital services to shift operations to the cloud. Dollar General Corp DG.N dropped after the retailer
forecast annual same-store sales and profit below estimates,
indicating that a pandemic-fueled rush for lower-priced goods
may be waning faster than expected. AMC Entertainment AMC.N climbed after the movie theater
operator said it would have 98% of its U.S. locations open from
Friday.