US STOCKS-Wall St set for steep fall on alarm over fast-spreading virus

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* Three main stock indexes down in the past five sessions
* GS estimates zero U.S. company earnings growth in 2020
* Futures down: Dow 1.24%, S&P 1.30%, Nasdaq 1.46%

(Adds details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Futures indicated that the Dow Jones
Industrials index would shed more than 300 points at the open on
Thursday 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."
After hitting a record high last week, the S&P 500 .SPX
has declined for five straight sessions and has lost about $1.84
trillion in market capitalization 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. firms 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 8:47 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 334 points,
or 1.24%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 40.5 points, or 1.3%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 129.25 points, or
1.46%.
Hotel operator Marriott International MAR.O warned of a
nearly $25 million hit to its monthly fee revenue due to the
epidemic. Its shares fell 2.5% in premarket trading.
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 Intel Corp INTC.O down between 2.3% and
3.2%.
Gilead Sciences GILD.O , however, jumped 5% as the
drugmaker said it had started two late-stage trials to test its
experimental drug in patients with cases of illness caused by
coronavirus.