Gold prices fall as markets seek clarity on tariffs; US CPI looms
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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 4.44%, S&P 4.41%, Nasdaq 4.41%
(Updates to market close)
By Sinéad Carew
April 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. benchmark S&P 500 stock index
fell more than 4% on Wednesday after a dire warning on the U.S.
death toll from the coronavirus sent investors running from even
the most defensive equities.
Economic data showed U.S. manufacturing activity contracted
less than expected in March, but disruptions caused by the
coronavirus pandemic pushed new orders received by factories to
an 11-year low, reinforcing economists' views that the economy
was in recession. Also, business closures as authorities tried to contain the
coronavirus pushed private payrolls down by 27,000 jobs last
month, 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 extended 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.
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.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 973.65 points,
or 4.44%, to 20,943.51, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 114.09 points,
or 4.41%, to 2,470.5 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped
339.52 points, or 4.41%, to 7,360.58.