Wall Street suffers a steep sell-off amid COVID-19
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The New York Stock Exchange. /VCG

The New York Stock Exchange. /VCG

Wall Street witnessed a broad market sell-off on Friday amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 622.03 points, or 2.55 percent, to 23,723.69. The S&P 500 fell 81.72 points, or 2.81 percent, to 2,830.71. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 284.60 points, or 3.20 percent, to 8,604.95.

All the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors dropped, with energy closing down 6 percent, the worst-performing group.

The corporate reporting season has crossed its midpoint, with 275 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported quarterly results. Of those, 68 percent have beaten consensus estimates.

Amazon.com shares slid 7.6 percent after the online retailer warned pandemic-related expenses could lead to its first quarterly loss in five years.

Apple Inc's quarterly results beat expectations, but the iPhone maker declined to provide current-quarter forecasts. Its shares lost 1.6 percent.

Tesla Inc plunged 10.3 percent after company Chief Executive Elon Musk said in a tweet that the electric car maker's stock price was "too high."

Exxon Mobil dropped 7.2 percent after the company reported a drop in profit due to a massive $3 billion writedown on plummeting oil demand and prices.

Rival Chevron Corp. posted a 38-percent profit increase, boosted by asset sales and slashed spending plans. Its shares dipped 2.8 percent.

The U.S. manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index contracted 7.6 percentage points to 41.5 percent in April, slipping to an 11-year low, the Institute for Supply Management reported on Friday.

Any reading below 50 percent indicates the manufacturing sector is generally contracting.

(With input from Reuters)