US STOCKS-Futures point higher after Wall Street's steepest plunge since 1987

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* Banks rise on plans to access Fed's discount window
* Boeing in talks to seek aid for battered aviation sector
* Regeneron jumps after positive update on COVID-19
treatment
* Futures up: Dow 2.22%, S&P 2.38%, Nasdaq 2.72%

(Adds details, updates prices)
By Medha Singh
March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose in
volatile trading on Tuesday, a day after Wall Street's steepest
fall since 1987, as drastic efforts to contain the coronavirus
pandemic paralyzed parts of the economy and crushed business
sentiment.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX erased all its gains from 2019
in the previous session as the Federal Reserve's dramatic move
to cut interest rates to near zero added to worries about the
economic fallout from the outbreak.
Monday marked the S&P 500's third-biggest daily percentage
drop on record, beaten only by the 1987 rout and the Great
Depression crash.
"It's becoming clearer that at its peak the COVID-19 impact
on the global economy will likely be worse than the peak of the
global financial crisis," said Jim Reid, a strategist at
Deutsche Bank in Guildford, UK.
As governments in the United States and Europe start
shutting restaurants and schools, as well as asking people to
stay home, strategists are downgrading growth forecasts for the
second quarter. Some investors are going so far as to contemplate outcomes
more dire than a recession, including several quarters of
declining economic activity, a credit crisis or even a
depression. The three indexes have plunged about 30% from their record
closing highs in mid February, ending the U.S. stock market's
longest-ever bull run.
At 7:10 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 453 points, or
2.22% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 192.25 points, or
2.72%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 rose 57.5 points or 2.38%.
Big U.S. lenders ticked higher after announcing they would
access funding from the Fed's "discount window". Bank of America Corp BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , Goldman
Sachs Group Inc GS.N , JP Morgan Chase & Co JPM.N , and Wells
Fargo & Co WFC.N rose between 3.0% and 4.6% in premarket
trading.
Boeing BA.N gained 3% after the planemaker said it was in
talks with senior White House officials and congressional
leaders about short-term assistance for the entire U.S. aviation
sector. Shares of carriers American Airlines AAL.O , United
Airlines UAL.O and Delta Air Lines DAL.N were up more than
2%.
In a bright spot for healthcare stocks, Pfizer Inc PFE.N
gained 3% after the drugmaker signed a deal with Germany's
BioNTech SE 22UAy.F to co-develop a potential coronavirus
vaccine. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped 14% after the
company said it had identified antibodies to potentially treat
COVID-19.