US STOCKS-Wall Street set for lower open as coronavirus cases flare up

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* Big U.S. banks slip in early trade
* Carnival's credit rating cut to junk status by S&P
* Futures down: Dow 0.71%, S&P 0.57%, Nasdaq 0.21%

(Adds quote, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
June 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open lower on Wednesday, a day after Nasdaq hit another closing
high, as investors assessed the risk to the domestic economy
from a rise in coronavirus cases in several U.S. states.
Washington state made face masks mandatory in public places,
while many other U.S. states saw record cases, including Arizona
and Texas, where restrictions meant to slow its spread were
lifted early.
The top U.S. infectious disease official Anthony Fauci said
the next two weeks could be critical in containing the outbreak.
A slate of better-than-expected economic data, easing
lockdowns and massive stimulus measures have powered the Nasdaq
to an all-time high and put the benchmark S&P 500 on track for
its best quarterly performance since 1975.
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials .DJI are just about
7% and 11.5% from their respective February record closing
highs.
"When you have a market that has rebounded so exceptionally
quickly from the lows, these sort of day-to-day reversals could
be investors taking a breather really," said Allen Sukholitsky,
chief macro strategist at Xallarap Advisory in New York.
"The hopes of swift recover are absolutely intact and at
least through the end of the year the market is going to move
considerably higher."
At 8:18 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 186 points,
or 0.71%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 17.75 points, or
0.57% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 21.25 points, or
0.21%.
U.S. airlines, resorts and cruise operators, who are among
the worst hit by the pandemic's fallout, declined with United
Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O , Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd
RCL.N and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH.N down
between 3% and 4% in premarket trading.
Carnival Corp CCL.N declined 4.9% as ratings agency
Standard & Poor's downgraded its bonds to junk status,
forecasting continued weak demand for the cruise industry.
Shares of U.S. lenders, which tend to outperform when the
outlook for the economy improves, also slipped. Bank of America
Corp BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and Goldman Sachs GS.N fell
between 0.7% and 1.2%.
High-flying technology companies Apple Inc AAPL.O and
Microsoft Corp eased from record levels after powering the
tech-heavy Nasdaq to a fresh peak in the previous session.