US STOCKS-Wall Street dives 4% as virus pandemic fears intensify

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* Officials project jump in U.S. coronavirus deaths
* Investors look nervously 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%

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By Sinéad Carew
New York, April 1 (Reuters) - Wall Street's three major
indexes fell more than 4% on Wednesday, after President Donald
Trump's dire warning on the U.S. death toll from the coronavirus
sent investors running from even the most defensive equities.
Trump warned Americans late Tuesday of a "painful" two weeks
ahead and health officials highlighted research predictions of
an enormous jump in virus-related deaths. Economic data did little to lift the mood. While U.S.
manufacturing activity contracted less than expected in March,
new orders received to factories fell to an 11-year low. And
business closures pushed private payrolls down by 27,000 jobs
last month, the first decline since September 2017, according to
the ADP National Employment Report. But money managers mostly focused on Trump's comments and
those of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, a state badly hit by
the virus.
"With comments from President Trump and Cuomo suggesting
this is going to get worse before it gets better, investors are
coming to the realization the virus will be with us for longer
than they would have expected," said Chris Zaccarelli, Chief
Investment Officer, Independent Advisor Alliance, Charlotte, NC.
"Because of that the bear market is going to last longer,"
he said. "The longer people stay home the longer it takes for
the economy to restart and the longer it takes for corporate
earnings to come back."
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.
Even sectors generally seen as the safer bets because of
high dividends saw a stampede to the exits. Real estate
.SPLRCR and utilities .SPLRCU each declined 6%, making them
the leading percentage losers among the S&P's 11 major sectors.
Virus worries also heightened nerves over the upcoming
earnings season which starts in roughly two weeks. Some
companies have withdrawn their financial guidance.
"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 John Augustine, chief investment officer
at Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio.
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.
Consumer staples .SPLRCS , down 1.8%, fared the best of the
S&P's sectors as many consumers have been stockpiling goods due
to government directives to stay at home.
Shares of airlines and cruise operators were among the S&P's
biggest laggards, with United Airlines UAL.O down 18.7% and
Carnival Corp CCL.N plunging 33%.
Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by a
9.47-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 7.15-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 91 new lows.
On U.S. exchanges 12.29 billion shares changed hands
compared with the 15.81 billion average for the last 20
sessions.