US STOCKS-Wall St jumps on hopes for piecemeal stimulus deal

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* Airlines rise after Trump's call for support
* All eyes on Fed minutes, vice-presidential debate
* Materials, financials, industrials lead gains
* Indexes up: Dow 1.49%, S&P 1.37%, Nasdaq 1.68%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Devik Jain and Sagarika Jaisinghani
Oct 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes jumped on
Wednesday on hopes of at least a partial deal on more fiscal
stimulus after U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly called off
negotiations on a comprehensive bill in the previous session.
Suggesting a risk-on mood, all the major S&P indexes were up
by early afternoon, while safe-haven U.S. Treasuries sold off,
as analysts said investors also appeared to grow comfortable
with the prospect of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
winning the Nov. 3 election.
The Dow Jones airlines index .DJUSAR jumped 3.1% after
Trump urged Congress on Tuesday to pass a series of smaller,
standalone bills that would include a bailout package for the
battered airline industry.
"The market is reacting positively to the fact that there is
a possibility of targeted stimulus," said Carlton Neel, chief
executive officer of investment research firm Chaikin Analytics
in Philadelphia.
Still, top White House officials downplayed the possibility
of more coronavirus relief, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
disparaged Trump for backing away from talks on a comprehensive
deal. Hopes of a new round of fiscal aid had fueled a broad rally
in U.S. stocks on Monday. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on
Tuesday also called for more help for businesses and households
to keep a nascent economic recovery from faltering.
Minutes of the Fed's September policy meeting are due later
in the day, with investors looking for details on the central
bank's new approach to inflation. Focus on Wednesday will also be on a debate between Vice
President Mike Pence and Democratic challenger Kamala Harris,
with Trump's battle with COVID-19 and Biden's age providing an
unusual backdrop. Reuters/Ipsos opinion polls released on Tuesday showed Biden
expanding his lead over Trump in battleground Michigan and the
two candidates locked in a toss-up race in North Carolina.
"The market is okay when it knows what the news is - good or
bad," said Kenny Polcari, managing partner at Kace Capital
Advisors in Boca Raton, Florida.
"The polls are clearly suggesting that (Biden's) got a
substantial enough lead, where it will be nearly impossible for
Trump to contest the election."
At 1:18 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 1.49%, the S&P 500 .SPX was up 1.37% and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 1.68%.
Broad-based gains were led by materials .SPLRCM ,
financials .SPSY , industrials .SPLRCI and consumer
discretionary stocks .SPLRCD .
The S&P banking subindex .SPXBK jumped 1.5%, tracking
Treasury yields. US/
With the third-quarter earnings season kicking off next
week, analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 firms to have dropped
about 21%, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Still, the pace of declines is expected to have slowed
following a 30.6% slump in the second quarter, when Corporate
America took a hit from nationwide lockdowns.
Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N rose 2.7% after saying it had
submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
emergency use of its experimental COVID-19 antibody treatment.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 2.52-to-1 on the NYSE
and 3.06-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 30 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 104 new highs and 12 new lows.