US STOCKS-Wall St set to rise as investors hold out for recovery

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* Lowe's up after results
* U.S. indexes seen in tight range in near term - economist
* Futures up: Dow 1.15%, S&P 1.10%, Nasdaq 1.00%

(Adds details, comment, updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Ambar Warrick
May 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open sharply
higher on Wednesday as investors clung to hopes of a recovery
from a coronavirus-fuelled slump amid signs of more stimulus for
ailing sectors, while retailer Lowe's jumped on upbeat quarterly
results.
The home improvement chain LOW.N rose 5.5% in premarket
trading after posting higher first-quarter same-store sales as
coronavirus lockdowns led people to spend more on home
remodelling and repairs. The U.S. stock market has now rallied more than 30% from
March lows on unprecedented stimulus, but gains have been
limited this month as traders digest mixed headlines on progress
in developing a coronavirus vaccine.
The S&P 500 tumbled 1% in the final hour of Tuesday's
session after a report raised doubts about positive results from
Moderna Inc's MRNA.O early-stage trial for a vaccine to
prevent against the respiratory disease.
"We don't expect very big gains from here but we don't
expect a downward trend either," said Simona Gambarini, markets
economist at Capital Economics in London.
"As the lockdowns are eased and the coronavirus epidemic is
brought under control in more and more countries, some recovery
in the economy is already factored into the equity prices."
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve
Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday the government and the
central bank were considering more measures to ensure the
worst-stricken areas of the economy received adequate support.
All eyes are now on minutes due later in the day from the
Fed's latest policy meeting where it maintained interest rates
near zero.
At 7:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 279 points, or
1.15%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 32 points, or 1.1% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 92.75 points, or 1%.
Target Corp TGT.N reported a 64% plunge in quarterly
profit, pummeled by costs to tackle the coronavirus outbreak,
but its shares rose on the back of a jump in online sales.
Facebook Inc FB.O , Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Apple
AAPL.O , Netflix Inc NFLX.O and Google-parent Alphabet Inc
GOOGL.O rose between 0.9% and 2.6%, while Bank of America Corp
BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N
gained about 2%.
Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N rose 3.1% after its chief
executive officer said he was confident travel will return in
the next 12 to 18 months. United Airlines Holdings UAL.O
gained 3.5%. Immunotherapy company Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc INO.O
surged 23.3% after saying its experimental coronavirus vaccine
was shown to produce protective antibodies and immune system
responses in mice and guinea pigs.