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* Coca-Cola sees big hit from low demand for soft drinks
* All 11 S&P 500 sectors drop
* Indexes end: Dow -2.67%, S&P 500 -3.07%, Nasdaq -3.48%
(Updates with details on quarterly results, investor comment)
By Noel Randewich
April 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street tumbled for a second
straight day on Tuesday as a collapse in U.S. oil prices and
glum forecasts by companies worsened fears of a deep economic
downturn.
All 11 S&P 500 sector indexes fell 1.6% or more, with energy
.SPNY sliding for the seventh time in eight sessions a day
after the WTI contract CLc1 crashed below zero as oil traders
ran out of storage for May deliveries.
With the collapse spilling into June futures contracts,
equity investors became wary of the extent of the economic
damage from sweeping lockdown measures that have halted business
activity and sparked millions of layoffs. O/R
The S&P information technology index .SPLRCT slumped 4.1%,
while the financial index .SPSY dropped 3.2%. After many
companies pulled their forecasts because of uncertainty related
to the coronavirus, investors will focus in the coming days on
first-quarter reports for signs of how badly the pandemic is
hurting U.S. corporations.
The benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX has climbed over 20% from
its March low, powered by trillions of dollars in stimulus, but
it remain nearly 20% below its February record high due to fears
of devastating economic damage caused by the coronavirus.
“What you're seeing is pulling back in the areas that have
done well, and taking profits while you can,” said Quincy
Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark,
New Jersey. “The question will be whether this is a
consolidation after the market ran up so quickly, or is this the
beginning of a more important pullback in the overall market?”
U.S. jobless claims hit 22 million in the past month as
companies launched dramatic cost-saving measures to ride out the
slump, and readings of U.S. business activity surveys, due on
Thursday, are likely to plummet to recession-era lows.
Coca-Cola Co KO.N provided the latest evidence of the
damage wrought by the global health crisis, saying its
current-quarter results would take a severe hit from low demand
for its soft drinks. Its stock fell 2.5%. International Business Machines Corp IBM.N declined 3%
after the company withdrew its 2020 annual forecast late on
Monday. In extended trade, Netflix NFLX.O surged 2.6% after the
streaming video company reported more paid subscribers than
expected in the first quarter. Also after the bell, Texas Instruments TXN.O rose 3%
following its quarterly report.
During Tuesday's session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI fell 2.67% to end at 23,018.88 points, while the S&P 500
.SPX lost 3.07% to 2,736.57.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 3.48% to 8,263.23.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
4.27-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.18-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted one new 52-week high and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 25 new highs and 34 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 12.1 billion shares, compared
with a 13.2 billion-share average for the full session over the
last 20 trading days.