US STOCKS-Futures tumble in start to second quarter as coronavirus crisis worsens

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* S&P 500, Dow coming off worst first quarter ever
* Officials project jump in U.S. coronavirus deaths
* Banks stocks track Treasury yields lower
* Futures slide: Dow 3.24%, S&P 3.29%, Nasdaq 2.85%

(Adds details, comment; updates prices)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
April 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures sank on
Wednesday, as stark predictions of a rise in the U.S. death toll
and worsening economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic led
investors to ditch equities for safe-haven assets.
The S&P 500 .SPX and Dow Jones .DJI indexes ended
Tuesday with their worst opening quarters in history as efforts
to contain the virus resulted in store closures, massive staff
furloughs and a virtual halt in business activity.
S&P 500 firms are down about $5.6 trillion in market value
so far this year, despite an unprecedented round of fiscal and
monetary stimulus that helped equity markets claw back some of
the sharp declines last week.
"Talk of a bottom in equity markets still seems remarkably
premature given the continued increase in infection and death
rates across Europe and the United States," said Michael Hewson,
chief market analyst at CMC Markets in London.
On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned Americans of
a "very, very painful" two weeks ahead, with White House health
officials modeling an enormous jump in virus-related deaths even
with strict social distancing measures. With the quarterly earnings season set to begin in two
weeks, investors fear reports of more production cuts as demand
across sectors including airlines, autos, luxury goods and
industrials evaporates, raising the risk of corporate defaults.
Companies listed on the S&P 500 are expected to enter an
earnings recession in 2020, with declines in profit projected in
the first and second quarters, according to IBES data from
Refinitiv.
Annual earnings are expected to fall 2%, the first decline
since 2009. In the second quarter alone, profits at S&P 500
firms are projected to slide 9.6%.
Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE volatility index .VIX ,
remains near levels last seen during the 2008 financial crisis,
with investors flocking to the perceived safety of gold XAU=
and U.S. Treasuries. GOL/ US/
Interest-rate sensitive Citigroup Inc C.N , JPMorgan Chase
& Co JPM.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N fell more than 3% in
premarket trading.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta
Mester said U.S. economic activity was likely to be "very bad"
in the first half of 2020 and the unemployment rate could rise
above 10%. The U.S. private payrolls report due later in the day is
expected to show a decline of 150,000 jobs in March after
183,000 additions in February.
At 06:55 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 704
points, or 3.24%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 84.5 points,
or 3.29% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 221.75 points,
or 2.85%.