Market Reacts to Estimated US Death Toll

Stocks are closing sharply lower on Wall Street as more signs piled up of the economic and physical pain being caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the AP reports. The S&P 500 dropped more than 4% Wednesday after the White House said that 100,000 to 240,000 people in the US could die from COVID-19. The selling was widespread, and all 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500 were down. Treasury yields sank as investors moved into safer investments. Whiting Petroleum, one of the biggest drillers in the Bakken shale formation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and automakers reported weak sales for March. (More stock market stories.)