US STOCKS-Wall St set to rise on stimulus hopes; Alibaba falls on China probe

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* U.S.-listed Chinese firms fall on China's Alibaba probe
* Big banks gain on recovery hopes
* Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.14%, Nasdaq 0.10%

(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Ambar Warrick and Devik Jain
Dec 24 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open higher on Thursday on hopes of a bigger coronavirus
economic relief package, while Alibaba slumped after China
launched an antitrust investigation into the e-commerce giant.
Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives aim to win
quick passage of legislation providing $2,000 in direct payments
to Americans after President Donald Trump unexpectedly insisted
on the provision. Congress had on Monday overwhelmingly approved an $892
billion emergency coronavirus aid bill that contained a
one-time, $600 payment to individuals.
"The market's hope of a bigger stimulus package will
probably make for a positive trading session. It's half a day,
and I don't expect too much action," said Peter Cardillo, chief
market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Alibaba Group BABA.N plunged nearly 10% in pre-market
trading after China launched an antitrust investigation into the
company as part of an accelerating crackdown on anticompetitive
behavior. The news also pulled down U.S.-listed shares of other
Chinese companies like Baidu Inc BIDU.O , Pinduoduo Inc PDD.O
and JD.com Inc JD.O .
Markets will close at 1:00 PM ET on Thursday and will be
closed for Christmas holiday on Friday.
At 8:20 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 40 points, or
0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 5 points, or 0.14%, and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 13 points, or 0.1%.
Investors also cheered reports that Britain and the European
Union were on the cusp of striking a narrow Brexit trade deal.

The S&P 500 and the Dow ended higher on Wednesday as
investors pivoted to cyclical stocks that stand to benefit most
during a recovery, encouraged by COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and
passing of the coronavirus relief bill.
"The rotation (into cyclicals) is probably going to
continue, and that could happen next week when we have window
dressing at the end of the quarter," Cardillo said.
Big banks Morgan Stanley MS.N , JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , Bank of America Corp BAC.N ,
Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N and Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N were
up between 0.6% and 0.5%.
Altimmune Inc ALT.O slipped 10.5% after the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration issued a clinical hold on the drug
developer's application to begin human testing of its
single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, AdCOVID.