US STOCKS-Wall St set for gains at the end of blistering week

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* Futures up: Dow 3.68%, S&P 3.24%, Nasdaq 4.59%

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By Medha Singh
March 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street looked set to round off
another torrid week with modest gains on Friday, as dramatic
intervention by the Federal Reserve halted the worst monthly
selloff in U.S. equities in three decades.
Boeing Co BA.N gained 10.2% in premarket trading after
four days of battering in the face of a complete collapse in the
aerospace sector as the coronavirus pandemic brings global
travel to a halt.
Fears of the severity of the outbreak have spooked investors
over the past month, with the S&P 500 losing nearly 30% - or
more than $8 trillion - in value since hitting a record high
last month.
A raft of additional monetary measures by the U.S. central
bank propped up the three main stock indexes on Thursday, and
investors are counting on further policy easing in the next few
days as the Senate mulls a $1 trillion package that would
include direct financial help for Americans.
United Airlines Holdings UAL.O , Delta Air Lines Inc
DAL.N and MGM Resorts MGM.N rose between 14% and 17%,
leading the charge among battered airlines, hotels and cruise
line operators.
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N rose more
than 7% as oil prices rebounded after President Donald Trump
hinted that he might intervene in the price war between Saudi
Arabia and Russia. O/R
At 06:31 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 737 points,
or 3.68%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 77.5 points, or 3.24%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 333.75 points, or 4.59%.
SPDR S&P 500 ETFs SPY.P were up 2.63%.
Still, these gains would be marginal compared with the steep
losses for Wall Street in the past four weeks as the rapid
spread of COVID-19 shuts down large cities and upends business
activity.
California became the latest state to issue an unprecedented
statewide "stay at home" order as the number of U.S. coronavirus
deaths hit 200. A Reuters poll of economists showed the global economy was
already in a recession, with official data showing
coronavirus-related layoffs pushed weekly jobless claims to a
2-1/2 year high last week. Markets are also likely to become volatile during Friday's
session due to "quadruple witching," where investors unwind
positions in futures and options contracts before their
expiration.