US STOCKS-Wall St bounces on hopes of $2 trillion stimulus, Boeing boost

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or type
LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Hopes on stimulus bill passing as soon as Tuesday
* Boeing surges as CEO flags mid-year return for 737 MAX
* Energy stocks track jump in oil prices
* U.S. business activity in March hits a record low
* Indexes jump: Dow 7.78%, S&P 6.80%, Nasdaq 6.27%

(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
March 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street bounced from three-year
lows on Tuesday on hopes of a major fiscal stimulus to blunt the
economic damage from the coronavirus pandemic, while Boeing
surged on signs that its grounded jet could fly by the middle of
the year.
All three main U.S. stock indexes jumped more than 5%,
bouncing back from a brutal selloff in the previous session on
fears of a deep global recession as entire nations shut down to
prevent the virus from spreading.
The S&P 500 .SPX has lost more than $9 trillion in value
from its mid February record high, while the Dow Jones .DJI
erased over three years of gains in one month.
Hopes are now running high of the U.S. Senate passing a $2
trillion stimulus bill, aimed at providing financial aid to
Americans out of work and help distressed industries.
"Fiscal stimulus is absolutely necessary because it directly
effects the consumer and consumer spending and consumer
confidence is what's driving the U.S. economy," said Nancy
Perez, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth in
Miami.
A separate proposal from Democrats in the U.S. House of
Representatives to grant airlines and contractors a $40 billion
bailout lifted shares of American Airlines AAL.O , Delta
Airlines DAL.N and United Airlines UAL.O 15% to 17%.
Boeing BA.N , once a symbol of U.S. manufacturing strength,
jumped 17% after Chief Executive Officer Dave Calhoun said the
company still expected a "mid-year" return to service of the 737
MAX aircraft. The planemaker has lost more than two-thirds of its value so
far this year as the health crisis crimped travel demand,
forcing it to seek $60 billion in U.S. government loans for the
aerospace industry.
Meanwhile, traders remained doubtful of a long-lasting
recovery in financial markets without any evidence of a peaking
in the number of new COVID-19 cases.
"What we don't know at this stage is how long it will take
to contain the virus that is still spreading exponentially, and
what kind of damage that will do to both populations and
economies across the globe," said Andy Scott, associate director
at Chatham Financial in London
Data on Monday showed U.S. business activity hit a record
low in March, bolstering economists' views that the economy was
already in recession. Still, there were broad gains on Wall Street as the S&P
energy index .SPNY rose nearly 10%, the most among the 11
major sectors, tracking a surge in oil prices. O/R
Chevron Corp CVX.N rose 20.7%, after it said it would cut
capital spending by $4 billion this year.
At 10:25 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 1,446.34 points, or 7.78%, at 20,038.27, the S&P 500
.SPX was up 152.18 points, or 6.80%, at 2,389.58 and the
Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 430.45 points, or 6.27%, at
7,291.13.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 13-to-1 on
the NYSE and 7-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and one new low,
while the Nasdaq logged two new highs and 36 new lows.