US STOCKS-Wall St recovers ground as Sanders gives health insurers a boost

* Insurers jump after Bernie Sanders halts campaign
* Energy leads gains among major S&P 500 sectors
* Indexes up: Dow 2.04%, S&P 2.01%, Nasdaq 1.69%

By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock markets rose on Wednesday on
hopes the coronavirus outbreak in the United States was close to
its peak, with health insurers boosted by Democratic
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders suspending his campaign.
After the worst March for decades, the past two weeks has
seen Wall Street's main markets recover some poise, although its
main indicator of future volatility .VIX remains historically
high.
UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N , Anthem ANTM.N and Cigna
CI.N jumped between 5.5% and 8%, as the healthcare index
.SPXHC provided one of the biggest boosts among the 11 major
S&P 500 .SPX sectors.
Sanders' embrace of a Medicare for all healthcare policy
would have essentially abolished private insurance and had cast
a shadow on healthcare stocks for months. The news added to early gains after President Donald Trump
said the United States might be getting to the top of the
"curve" in relation to the outbreak, even as New York and
several other states posted their highest number of daily
virus-related fatalities. "The general trend is that it's gradually getting better.
Flattening of the curve is very minor, but it's enough for an
inkling of hope," said Randy Frederick, vice president of
trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.
The benchmark S&P 500 is still down nearly 20% from its
record high in mid-February, despite big gains early this week,
as measures to contain the virus brought the U.S. economy to a
virtual halt.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Boeing Co BA.N supplier Spirit
AeroSystems SPR.N became the latest companies to furlough
workers.
Spirit's shares jumped over 12%, while Tesla rose about 1%.
Top U.S. Democrats in Congress said on Wednesday they would
back the Trump administration's request for $250 billion more in
aid for small businesses if it includes additional money for
hospitals, local governments and food assistance.
The package would add to the $2.3 trillion in stimulus
already approved and meant to make up for the wages and incomes
lost after Americans were ordered to stay home.
Early gains were led by the energy index .SPNY , which rose
over 3%, as oil stocks tracked crude prices higher and risk
appetite was boosted by the prospect of more fiscal stimulus.
At 1:36 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 461.49 points, or 2.04%, at 23,115.35, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 53.53 points, or 2.01%, at 2,712.94 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 133.60 points, or 1.69%, at 8,020.86.
Corporate earnings season starts next week with the major
Wall Street banks, and companies are expected to outline more
drastic measures to bolster dwindling cash reserves.
"Investors are bracing themselves for a terrible earnings
season and are going to try to look for clues on what businesses
will see more normalized operations," said Yung-Yu Ma, chief
strategy officer at BMO Wealth Management in Portland.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.52-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a
4.18-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 2 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 3 new highs and 15 new lows.