US STOCKS-Wall St slides on 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 2.79%, S&P 2.82%, Nasdaq 1.97%

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By Medha Singh
April 15 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 recoiled on Wednesday from
a four-week high, as dire forecasts for the worst economic
downturn since the Great Depression were strengthened by a crash
in business activity and dismal first-quarter earnings reports.
The S&P energy sector .SPNY slumped 7.3% and was on track
for its worst day in nearly a month as oil prices sank after
reports suggested persistent oversupply and collapsing global
demand. O/R
The banking subsector .SPXBK fell 5.8%, 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/
Bank of America BAC.N and Citigroup Inc C.N shed as much
as 6.5% as they joined JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N and Wells
Fargo & Co WFC.N in reporting a slump in first-quarter
profits. In the latest 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. "Investors need a strong stomach to stick with stocks
through some bad earnings reports in the coming days, weeks and
months," said David Trainer, chief executive officer of
investment research firm New Constructs in Nashville, Tennessee.
"Earnings and coronavirus are tightly intertwined and the
more progress there is on coronavirus, the sooner economic
activity resumes and earnings rebound."
Analysts expect earnings for S&P 500 firms 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 benchmark 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.
At 11:45 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 667.62 points, or 2.79%, at 23,282.14, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 80.14 points, or 2.82%, at 2,765.92 and Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 167.40 points, or 1.97%, at 8,348.35.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX rose to 42.30 after closing
Tuesday at its lowest level since March 5. The S&P tech sector
.SPLRCT fell 2.5% and was the biggest drag on the benchmark
index.
J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N slumped 28.1% 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 2.1% as it maintained its 2020 profit outlook at a
time when major companies have withdrawn forecasts due to the
coronavirus pandemic. Declining issues outnumbered advancers more than 10-to-1 on
the NYSE and 5-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and 18 new lows.