US STOCKS-Wall Street gains on signs of coronavirus slowdown

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* S&P 500 set for best two-gain in nearly two weeks
* Exxon, Halliburton track oil prices higher
* Cruise operators lead gains among S&P 500 firms
* Indexes jump: Dow 2.24%, S&P 1.82%, Nasdaq 1.28%

(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Tuesday as early
signs of a slowdown in coronavirus cases in U.S. hot spots
raised hopes that sweeping lockdown measures to contain the
outbreak were working.
The S&P 500 was set for its biggest two-day gain in nearly
two weeks, building on a 7% jump on Monday, as the governors of
New York, New Jersey and Louisiana pointed to tentative signs of
a plateauing in the pandemic. Early gains were led by the energy .SPNY , financials
.SPSY and materials .SPLRCM sectors, with an aggressive
round of fiscal and monetary stimulus in the past month also
boosting risk appetite.
Despite the strong start to the week, the S&P 500 .SPX
remains about 19% below its mid-February record high, as strict
stay-at-home orders crushed demand across industries and sparked
mass staff furloughs.
"This is looking more like a bear market rally," said Nancy
Perez, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth in
Miami.
"I think there's still a lot of headwinds that could cause
this market to re-test the lows. There will be the initial
resumption of business on paper, but then the actual actions
will have to follow."
At 10:19 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 508.74 points, or 2.24%, at 23,188.73, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 48.52 points, or 1.82%, at 2,712.20 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 101.38 points, or 1.28%, at 8,014.61.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX has steadily retreated from
12-year peaks, but volatility is expected to remain high as
companies prepare to report an expected slide in first-quarter
earnings and outline more drastic plans to bolster cash
reserves.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N throttled back a multi-year investment
spree in shale, LNG and deep water oil production, saying it
would cut planned capital spending this year by 30% as the
pandemic saps energy demand. Oilfield services firm Halliburton Co HAL.N said it would
cut about 350 jobs in Oklahoma and that its executives would
reduce their salaries. Exxon and Halliburton shares jumped 4.9% and 5.7%,
respectively, also tracking a surge in oil prices amid hopes the
world's main oil producers would agree to cut in output at a
meeting on Thursday. O/R
Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH.N , Royal Caribbean RCL.N and
Carnival Corp CCL.N , among the most heavily battered stocks
this year due to a near halt in global tourism, rose nearly 25%.
Consumer staples .SPLRCS and utilities .SPLRCU , broadly
considered the safest bets in volatile times, posted the
smallest gains among the major S&P 500 sectors.
Gold fell 0.8% on the day. GOL/
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 8-to-1 on
the NYSE and 3-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded nine new highs and nine new lows.