Goldman Sachs downgrades US growth forecast for Q1, Q2 due to coronavirus

Goldman Sachs Group Inc has downgraded its US growth forecast for the first and second quarters in the wake of the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak.

In a note sent on Sunday, the US bank said it now sees real gross domestic product growth of 0% in the first three months of the year, from its original estimate of 0.7% expansion. For the second quarter, it sees US growth contracting to -0.5% from its initial forecast of 0%.

Goldman raised its third-quarter US GDP estimate to 3% from 1% originally.

"We expect US economic activity to contract sharply in the remainder of