Bryan R Smith

US stocks fell sharply on Wednesday after President Donald Trump told the country to brace for a "very, very painful two weeks" amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The White House projected that the US could see 100,000 to 240,000 deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus.

The losses came on the heels of the worst-ever first quarter for the Dow Jones industrial average.

Read more on Business Insider.

US stocks fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump issued a dire new warning about pain ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During a briefing on Tuesday evening, Trump told Americans to brace for a "very, very painful two weeks," adding that "this is going to be three weeks like we haven't seen before."

The White House projected that the US could see 100,000 to 240,000 deaths from COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, peaking over the next two weeks; Trump described them as "shocking" numbers. As of Wednesday morning, the US had 189,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 — the largest outbreak in the world — and more than 4,000 deaths.

Here's where the major US indexes stood at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday:

Read more: Buy these 14 stocks flush with the cash reserves to survive a prolonged coronavirus crisis, BTIG says

The Dow Jones industrial average capped off its worst-ever first-quarter performance on Tuesday, slipping 23% over the three-month period. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 also posted their worst monthly returns since the depth of the financial crisis in October 2008, falling 14% and 13% in March.

Oil also had its worst quarter ever, falling 66%. The losses were due to the dual impact of a coronavirus-driven drop in demand and an escalating price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Some experts see more pain ahead. On Tuesday, the bond king Jeffrey Gundlach told investors that he thought the market would fall even further in April, extending the rout driven by the pandemic.

On Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management's March manufacturing survey will show how the coronavirus outbreak has affected business activity in the US. Investors will also be watching for jobless-claims data on Thursday and the March jobs report on Friday for further clues about the economic fallout.

"With a global recession now being the overarching theme for the year, investors are expected to endure a bumpy ride before they can place firm hopes on the eventual recovery," Han Tan, market analyst at FXTM, told Business Insider.

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