US STOCKS-Wall Street gains as some U.S. states reopen for business

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* Tesla gains on reports of California factory reopening
* U.S. Supreme court rules in favor of health insurers
* VIX touches 7+ week low
* Indexes up: Dow 1.31%, S&P 1.35%, Nasdaq 1.01%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, April 27 (Reuters) - Wall Street advanced on
Monday as investors girded for a busy earnings week while
turning a hopeful eye toward several U.S. states that are
relaxing shutdown restrictions put in place to curb the spread
of the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three major U.S. stock averages gained more than 1%,
having clawed back much of the ground lost since the coronavirus
crisis brought the economy to a grinding halt.
The indexes are all now within 20% of their record closing
highs reached in February, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track
for its best month since 1987, after trillions of stimulus
dollars helped U.S. equities recover from March lows.
But some analysts believe gains may be limited unless there
is progress in finding treatments for the disease. Several states have begun easing shutdowns, and market
participants will closely monitor whether a second wave of
infections will hinder efforts to revive economies and get
Americans back to work following crushing job losses.
"There's cautious optimism that the economy across the
country is moving toward restarting," said Robert Pavlik, chief
investment strategist, senior portfolio manager at SlateStone
Wealth LLC in New York. "The market is looking out 6 to 9
months, but there are a number of things that could push that
optimism right out the window, primarily a sharp spike in the
number of COVID-19 cases."
Economists expect the U.S. economy to have shrunk in the
first quarter at a 4% annualized rate. The Commerce Department
is due to release its first take on first-quarter GDP on
Wednesday.
Investors will also pay close attention to the U.S. Federal
Reserve when it concludes its monetary policy meeting on
Wednesday.
In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
.DJI rose 313.94 points, or 1.32%, to 24,089.21, the S&P 500
.SPX gained 37.52 points, or 1.32%, to 2,874.26 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC added 80.40 points, or 0.93%, to 8,714.92.
All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 were higher, with
financials .SPSY posting the largest gains, helped by U.S.
Treasury yields, which rose for the second straight session.
A spate of high-profile earnings is expected this week,
including Caterpillar Inc CAT.N , Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O ,
Boeing Co BA.N , Facebook Inc FB.O , Apple Inc AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and others.
Analysts expect first-quarter S&P 500 earnings to have
dropped by 15% from last year, a dramatic reversal from the 6.3%
year-on-year growth forecast at the start of the year, according
to Refinitiv data.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of health insurers
seeking Obamacare payments from the government. The S&P 1500
Managed Care index .SPCOMHMO was up 0.5%. Tesla Inc TSLA.O jumped 9.2% and gave the Nasdaq its
biggest boost after a report said the company is calling some
workers back to its California vehicle-assembly plant next week.
Apple Inc slipped 0.2% following a report indicating the
company was postponing a production ramp-up of its flagship
iPhone. The CBOE Volatility index .VIX , a gauge of investor
anxiety, slipped for its fourth consecutive session to touch a
more than seven-week low.
Crude oil prices, under pressure amid a supply glut and
plunging demand, once again plummeted, falling 22.9%. O/R
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
3.38-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 4.07-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 58 new highs and 7 new lows.