U.S. stocks end sharply lower as coronavirus weighs on oil prices, bank earnings

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower on Wednesday as wrenching numbers on oil prices, and bank earnings, and retail sales have hit the pause button on investor optimism and fueled concerns over the coronavirus’s impact on the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 442 points, or 1.9 percent, while the S&P 500 fell 2.2 percent. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also dropped 1.4 percent.

Bank of America’s shares closed more than 6 percent lower on the back of disappointing earnings. Citigroup’s shares also plunged more than 5 percent. Meanwhile, energy, materials and financials were the worst-performing sectors in the S&P 500, falling by more than 4 percent each.

A report from the Commerce Department published on Wednesday showed that retail sales during the month of March dived a record 8.7 percent. That was the largest one-month fall since the department started tracking the series in 1992.