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* U.S. stocks eye steepest weekly decline since 2008
* GS sees no earnings growth for U.S. companies in 2020
* Indexes down: Dow 2.27%, S&P 2.33%, Nasdaq 2.66%
(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Feb 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes fell for the
sixth straight session and slipped into correction territory on
Thursday, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China
intensified fears about the hit to economic growth and corporate
earnings.
The S&P 500 .SPX and Nasdaq .IXIC are now more than 10%
below their intraday record highs hit on Feb. 19, while the Dow
Jones Industrials .DJI is 10% off its Feb.12 peak.
The indexes were set for their steepest weekly pullback
since the global financial crisis as rising number of new
infections outside China raised fears of a pandemic.
Adding to worries, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention confirmed an infection in California in a person who
reportedly did not have relevant travel history or exposure to
another known patient. "In the recent week, markets have come to realize that the
outbreak is much worse and are now realistically pricing in the
impact of the virus on the economy," said Philip Marey, senior
U.S. strategist at Rabobank.
"In that sense it's a bit of a catching up from the relative
optimism that was there in the beginning when markets thought
(the virus) will be contained to China with some minor outbreak
outside."
Industry analysts and economists continued to sound the
alarm as they assessed the impact of the coronavirus, with
Goldman Sachs saying U.S. firms will generate no earnings growth
in 2020. Bank of America slashed its global growth forecast to the
lowest level since the peak of the financial crisis.
At 10:08 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was down 573.93 points, or 2.13%, at 26,383.66, the S&P 500
.SPX was down 67.33 points, or 2.16%, at 3,049.06. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 221.07 points, or 2.46%, at 8,759.70.
All of the 11 S&P sectors were deep in the red with energy
.SPNY losing the most, down 4.1%. Technology .SPLRCT ,
financial .SPSY , industrials .SPLRCI , consumer discretionary
.SPLRCD , materials .SPLRCM and communication services
.SPLRCS sectors dropped more than 2% each.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 8.83-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 8.65-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded four new 52-week highs and 90 new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 15 new highs and 361 new lows.