US STOCKS-Wall St set to rise as vaccine progress fuels recovery hopes

* Vaccine could reach first Americans by mid-December
* Surging coronavirus cases cap stock market gains
* Merck rises on adding experimental COVID-19 therapy
* Futures up: Dow 0.58%, S&P 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.33%

(Adds comments; updates prices)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Shivani Kumaresan
Nov 23 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
rise on Monday as hopes that the first COVID-19 vaccine could be
available within weeks renewed bets of a swift economic recovery
next year.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is likely to approve
in mid-December the distribution of the vaccine made by Pfizer
Inc PFE.N and German partner BioNTech 22UAy.DE , a top
official of the government's vaccine development effort said on
Sunday. Global equity markets received a boost earlier on Monday as
AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L became the latest major drugmaker to say
its COVID-19 vaccine could be around 90% effective, although its
shares fell 1.9% as some traders perceived the efficacy data as
disappointing compared with rivals. MKTS/GLOB
"There's good news on the coronavirus vaccine and that's
building a lot of enthusiasm in a short trading week, but the
enthusiasm might be getting a little bit overdone," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York.
"It isn't like the vaccine is going to be distributed
tomorrow. It's going to take at least a month and so we are
still pretty far away before reality sets in."
At 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 170 points, or
0.58%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 19.25 points, or 0.54%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 39 points, or 0.33%.
Market participants warned of higher volatility .VIX in a
trading week shortened by the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 26.
Evidence of high efficacy rates in experimental vaccines had
lifted the S&P 500 .SPX to a record high earlier this month
and sparked demand for stocks such as industrials, energy and
banks, sending the S&P value index .IVX up more than 10%.
By contrast, the growth index .IGX , which comprises
heavyweight technology stocks, has risen less than 8% in
November after leading Wall Street's recovery from its
coronavirus lows.
But traders are again turning cautious about the economic
damage from the coronavirus-led restrictions to contain a surge
in infections. After data last week signaled a faltering labor market
recovery, flash readings of business activity surveys due later
in the day are expected to show the manufacturing and services
sectors expanded at a slower pace in November.
Meanwhile, hopes of more monetary stimulus were dashed after
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week pulled the plug on
some of the Federal Reserve's pandemic emergency lending
programs. In company news, shares of drugmaker Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped 3.6% in premarket trading
after the FDA on Saturday granted emergency use authorization to
its COVID-19 antibody therapy. Merck & Co Inc MRK.N rose 1.8% after agreeing to acquire
OncoImmune in a deal that will give it control of a drug that
could help ease symptoms and reduce deaths in patients with
severe or critical cases of COVID-19.