US STOCKS-Wall St falls after gloomy economic data, bank earnings

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* NY Fed Empire State manufacturing index hits record low
* BofA, Citigroup fall as profit slumps
* J.C. Penney sinks on report it is considering bankruptcy
* Retail sales collapse in March
* Indexes down: Dow 1.6%, S&P 1.9%, Nasdaq 0.9%

(Updates to late afternoon)
By Medha Singh
April 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday as dismal
economic and first-quarter earnings reports compounded concerns
over the extent of damage from the coronavirus outbreak.
The S&P energy sector .SPNY slumped as oil prices sank
after reports suggested persistent oversupply and collapsing
global demand. O/R
The banking subsector .SPXBK fell as the biggest U.S.
lenders set aside billions of dollars to prepare for an expected
flood of loan defaults as the coronavirus pandemic all but
halted business activity. The flight from risky assets also hit
Treasury yields. US/
Shares of Bank of America BAC.N and Citigroup Inc C.N
dropped as they joined JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and Wells
Fargo & Co WFC.N in reporting a slump in first-quarter
profits. In further evidence of economic damage from the outbreak,
U.S. retail sales plunged 8.7% in March, manufacturing output
dropped by the most in over 74 years and a survey showed
manufacturing activity in New York state plunged in April to its
lowest in the series' history. Disappointing bank earnings are weighing on sentiment as
well as prospects for the rest of the earnings season, said Paul
Nolte, portfolio manager at Kingsview Investment Management in
Chicago.
In the coming weeks, "it's going to be more important to
look at companies... from a debt perspective" in addition to
sales and earnings, he said, noting: "I'm not sure the recovery
is going to be as strong as everybody is saying."
Analysts expect earnings for firms on the benchmark S&P 500
index to slide 12.8% in the first quarter, while the
International Monetary Fund has predicted the global economy
would this year witness its sharpest slump since the 1930s.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 380.68 points,
or 1.59%, to 23,569.08, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 53.62 points, or
1.88%, to 2,792.44 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
79.55 points, or 0.93%, to 8,436.19.
The S&P 500 .SPX has climbed about 26% from its March
trough, lifted by a raft of U.S. monetary and fiscal stimulus
and on early signs that coronavirus cases were peaking in some
hotspots, but the index is still down about 18% from its record
high.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX rose after closing Tuesday
at its lowest level since March 5. The S&P tech sector .SPLRCT
fell 2.1% and was the biggest drag on the benchmark index.
J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N slumped as sources said the
retailer was exploring filing for bankruptcy protection after
the virus outbreak upended its turnaround plans. The biggest U.S. health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc
UNH.N rose as it maintained its 2020 profit outlook at a time
when major companies have withdrawn forecasts due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
4.96-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.12-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 8 new 52-week highs and 1 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 22 new highs and 24 new lows.