US STOCKS-Fed boost fails to stem Wall Street rout

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* Fed to lend against student loans, repurchase Treasuries
* More states under lockdown raise fears of hit to economy
* Goldman Sachs sees 24% plunge in Q2 U.S. real GDP
* Energy biggest loser among major S&P 500 sectors
* Indexes off: Dow 4.74%, S&P 4.67%, Nasdaq 3.41%

(Adds comments, milestones)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
March 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's slide deepened on Monday
as the rapidly spreading coronavirus forced more U.S. states
into lockdown, eclipsing optimism from an aggressive policy
easing by the Federal Reserve and putting the S&P 500 on pace
for its worst month since World War Two.
After cutting interest rates to near zero and offering to
buy more Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, the Fed
will now lend against student loans and credit card loans, as
well as back the purchase of corporate bonds and direct loans to
companies. The extraordinary moves briefly lifted U.S. stock index
futures more than 3%, but the mounting death toll from COVID-19
and growing evidence of the economic damage to Corporate America
quickly sent the main indexes back into the red.
"It's their bazooka moment, which should be a sign to
investors that the Fed will provide any and all liquidity
necessary to support the economy through this period," said
Russell Price, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial Service
in, Troy, Michigan.
"But quite frankly, the market is just in a waiting period
right now until the virus runs its course and some of the
therapies and other treatments are able to improve outcomes."
Investors had hoped the U.S. Senate would clear a $1
trillion-plus coronavirus stimulus package over the weekend, but
Democrats and Republicans were still scrambling to come to an
agreement. Ohio, Louisiana and Delaware have now joined New York and
California in asking people to stay home, foreshadowing a near
halt in economic activity and more pain for U.S. equities, which
have already lost more than $9 trillion in value since a record
high hit last month. Goldman Sachs expects an outright contraction in global real
GDP in 2020 on the back of a 24% plunge in U.S. real GDP in the
second quarter: two-and-a-half times as large as the previous
post-war record. At 11:49 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
down 908.45 points, or 4.74%, at 18,265.53, while the S&P 500
.SPX was down 107.63 points, or 4.67%, at 2,197.29 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was down 234.88 points, or 3.41%, at
6,644.63.
The energy sector .SPNY fell 5%, tracking a plunge in oil
prices. O/R
Exxon Mobil XOM.N and Chevron CVX.N were among the
biggest drags on the Dow .DJI . Hasbro HAS.O rose 10.84% after the toy maker's Chief
Executive Officer Brian Goldner said its supply chains were up
and running in China. Declining issues outnumbered advancers more than 5-to-1 on
the NYSE and 3-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and 195 new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded two new highs and 401 new lows.