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* Officials project jump in U.S. coronavirus deaths
* Investors look ahead to earnings
* All 11 major S&P 500 sectors in the red
* Indexes slide: Dow 3.91%, S&P 4.13%, Nasdaq 3.95%
(Updates to late afternoon, adds commentary, changes byline,
adds New York dateline)
By Sinéad Carew
April 1 (Reuters) - The key S&P 500 index was down more than
4% on Wednesday after a dire warning on the U.S. death toll from
the coronavirus and heightened nerves over the upcoming earnings
reporting season sent investors running from even the most
defensive equities.
Economic data showing a plunge in new orders for U.S.-made
goods did not help, even as those numbers were not as bad as
economists had feared. Also, business closures pushed private
payrolls down by 27,000 jobs last month, in the first decline
since September 2017, the ADP National Employment Report showed
separately on Wednesday. {nL1N2BP0LV]
The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and benchmark S&P
500 indexes were set to extend losses after suffering their
worst first quarter as President Donald Trump warned Americans
of a "painful" two weeks ahead and health officials highlighted
research predictions of an enormous jump in virus-related
deaths.
Roughly two weeks before the first-quarter earnings season
is due to start in earnest, investors are "very sensitive to the
latest headlines" about the virus due to a lack of fundamental
information," said John Augustine, chief investment officer at
Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio.
"We don't know all the economic and earnings impact yet and
this is a sober thought for Americans with those projections of
the death rate," said Augustine.
“Investors are starting to think about earnings season and
many companies have pulled their guidance for the quarter.
Analysts are waiting to see what the companies have to say."
S&P 500 firms are expected to enter an earnings recession in
2020, falling 4.3% in the first quarter and 10.9% in the second,
according to the latest estimates gathered by Refinitiv.
At 2:48 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
fell 857.78 points, or 3.91%, to 21,059.38, the S&P 500 .SPX
lost 106.78 points, or 4.13%, to 2,477.81 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC dropped 304.19 points, or 3.95%, to 7,395.91.
Even the sectors generally seen as the safer bets because of
their high dividends saw a stampede to the exits, with real
estate .SPLRCR leading S&P decliners with a 7% drop along with
utilities .SPLRCU .
Consumer staples .SPLRCS , down 1.3%, and consumer
discretionary down 3.6%, fared best of the S&P's 11 major
sectors as many consumers have been busy stockpiling goods since
they were advised to stay at home by the local and Federal
government officials at least until the end of April.
Meanwhile, the collapse in oil prices claimed its first
major casualty, with shale producer Whiting Petroleum WLL.N
filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Its shares nearly
halved in value. The energy sector .SPNY shed another 4%, with experts now
saying oil prices could touch single digits, exacerbated by a
share tussle among top producers as the world runs out of
storage space. Shares of airlines and cruise operators fell further, with
United Airlines UAL.O down 17% and Carnival Corp CCL.N
plunging 24%, some of the biggest decliners on the S&P 500.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
9.25-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 7.12-to-1 ratio favored decliners.
The S&P 500 posted 1 new 52-week highs and 11 new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 7 new highs and 65 new lows.