US STOCKS-Nasdaq set for sharp drop at open as U.S. stimulus fuels inflation jitters

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* Disney gains as California allows theme parks to reopen
* Banks stocks advance as yields rise on stimulus bill
* GameStop jumps after tapping Ryan Cohen to lead transition
* Futures: Dow up 0.1%, S&P down 0.3%, Nasdaq drops 0.9%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Shashank Nayar and Medha Singh
March 8 (Reuters) - The Nasdaq was set to slump at the open
on Monday as the passage of a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief
package by the U.S. Senate lifted bond yields, pressuring richly
valued technology stocks and sparking inflation concerns.
The Senate on Saturday passed the stimulus package - one of
the biggest in U.S. history - and President Joe Biden said he
hoped for quick passage of the revised bill by the House of
Representatives so he could sign it and send $1,400 direct
payments to Americans. Technology-related stocks, including Facebook Inc FB.O ,
Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , fell between 1%
and 1.5% after bearing the brunt of the sell-off in the past
three weeks on fears of higher interest rates as the benchmark
10-year Treasury yield scaled one-year highs.
"There are tensions about inflation pressures and the
stimulus package certainly adds to that pressure which is shown
in the weakness in tech stocks and the Nasdaq," said Robert
Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth in New York.
"But the wider S&P 500 and Dow indices indicate towards a
positive open as investors bet that the huge coronavirus aid
bill will help boost economic recovery."
Tech stocks are particularly sensitive to rising yields
because their value rests heavily on earnings in the future,
which are discounted more deeply when bond returns go up.
Aggravating concerns about rising prices, crude oil prices
climbed above $70 a barrel on Monday. O/R
Hopes of more fiscal support and signs of faster economic
growth on speedy vaccine rollouts had lifted Wall Street's main
indexes to record highs last month, but worries that rising
inflation could result in a sudden tapering of monetary stimulus
have now prompted investors to dump equities. MKTS/GLOB
Since the yield surge began in mid-February, the Russell
1000 growth index .RLG has fallen 7.7% against a 1.8% gain for
its counterpart value index .RLV consisting of cyclical stocks
such as financials and energy.
At 08:21 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 35 points, or
0.11%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 10.5 points, or 0.27%
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 114.25 points, or 0.9%.
Banks .SPXBK were among the rare gainers premarket as the
yield on the benchmark 10-year note US10YT=TWEB stood near a
13-month high, while Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX jumped
nearly 3 points and was on course for its biggest one-day rise
this month. US/
Walt Disney DIS.N rose about 1.5% as California health
officials set new rules that would allow Disneyland and other
theme parks, stadiums and outdoor entertainment venues to reopen
as early as April 1. GameStop Corp GME.N jumped about 11% after the company
said it had tapped shareholder Ryan Cohen to lead a transition
to an e-commerce business.