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* Futures shrug off BoE rate cut
* U.S. lenders JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley fall
* Nike falls after rivals Adidas, Puma flag weakness
* Indexes down: Dow 3.14%, S&P 2.96%, Nasdaq 2.61%
(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh and Sanjana Shivdas
March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes dropped sharply on
Wednesday after attempting a rebound in the previous session, on
skepticism around President Donald Trump's stimulus plan to
combat the coronavirus outbreak.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX index was 17.6% below its
all-time peak hit on Feb. 19. If it closes 20% below its record
closing high from just three weeks ago, the index would confirm
a bear market.
Expectations that Trump would announce "major" stimulus
measures helped Wall Street claw back losses on Tuesday from a
bruising sell-off at the start of the week on the back of a
collapse in oil prices.
Trump met with fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate on
Tuesday and discussed a payroll tax cut, but no concrete
measures have been announced. "This has to be a co-ordinated effort," said Kim Forrest,
chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners in
Pittsburgh.
"The President cannot unilaterally take action. He needs
Congress, which is the financing arm of the government."
The rapid spread of the virus has galvanized central banks
and governments to roll out measures to cushion its fallout. The
Bank of England became the latest central bank to cut interest
rates. MKTS/GLOB
The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut rates for the
second time this month when it meets next week, pressuring
Treasury yields further. US/
Rate-sensitive U.S. lenders tumbled, with the banks index
.SPXBK down 3.4%. The energy sector .SPNY dropped about 4%
while all major S&P sectors were down at least 2.1%.
At 9:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 785.32 points, or 3.14%, at 24,232.84 and the S&P 500
.SPX was down 85.23 points, or 2.96%, at 2,797.00. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 218.11 points, or 2.61%, at 8,126.15.
Nike Inc NKE.N fell 5.1%, the most among the blue-chip Dow
Industrials components, after rivals Adidas ADSGn.DE and Puma
PUMG.DE flagged a sales hit in China due to the outbreak.
In a bright spot, DXC Technology Co DXC.N rose 3.7% after
the IT and consulting services provider said it would sell its
healthcare technology business to private equity firm Veritas
Capital for $5 billion. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 11.03-to-1
ratio on the NYSE and a 6.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week highs and 18 new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded three new highs and 174 new lows.
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