US STOCKS-Wall Street rises on $2.3 trillion Fed backstop

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* Weekly jobs claims fall 261,000 to 6.6 million
* Oil rises as OPEC+ output cut meeting under way
* Big banks, Walt Disney rise 4%
* Indexes jump: Dow 1.96%, S&P 1.78%, Nasdaq 0.50%

(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose for the third time in
four days on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out a
massive $2.3 trillion program to bolster local governments and
businesses, while energy stocks jumped on an expected cut in oil
production.
In what is likely to be its largest rescue effort ever, the
Fed said it would work through banks to offer 4-year loans to
companies of up to 10,000 employees and directly buy the bonds
of states and more populous counties and cities. "The Federal Reserve and the U.S. government are willing to
go to extreme lengths to support the economy and that has been
far beyond my expectations," said Dev Kantesaria, founder
portfolio manager of hedge fund Valley Forge Capital Management,
Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Meanwhile, data showed initial U.S. jobless claims fell
slightly last week to 6.6 million from an upwardly revised 6.87
million the week before. Still, new claims topped 6 million for the second straight
week, underscoring the scale of the damage that the health
crisis is doing to the U.S. economy.
The S&P 500 has regained about 11% in the holiday-shortened
week on early signs of the outbreak hitting a peak and
aggressive global stimulus, but it remains about 16% below its
record high as lockdown measures hamper business activity.
While public health experts stressed the need to keep people
apart to contain the contagion, the restrictions have strangled
the economy and sparked widespread production cuts, layoffs and
projections of a severe recession.
Energy stocks .SPNY led gains on the S&P 500, rising well
over 3%, as a meeting of the world's biggest oil producers to
discuss production cuts got under way. O/R
Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Chevron CVX.N , Marathon Oil MRO.N
and Apache Corp APA.N rose between 2% and 18% as oil prices
gained.
Big banks also rose at least 4%, with the benchmark index
set for its biggest weekly percentage rise since 1974 if gains
hold through the day.
"A (market) rally doesn't mean we're out of the woods just
yet nor that volatility is a thing of the past," said Mike
Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE
Financial Corp in New York.
"If there is one thing recent history has shown us, it's
that optimism can wear off quickly if cases climb or
stay-at-home orders are extended."
At 10:35 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 459.89 points, or 1.96%, at 23,893.46, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 48.94 points, or 1.78%, at 2,798.92 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 40.10 points, or 0.50%, at 8,131.00.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O fell more than nearly 1% as the
coffee chain forecast a 47% drop in second-quarter earnings due
to a loss in sales. Walt Disney Co DIS.N jumped 4.1% as the company said its
Disney+ streaming service had attracted more than 50 million
paid users globally. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 11.78-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 4.19-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 5 new 52-week highs and no new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded 12 new highs and 6 new lows.