US STOCKS-Wall Street set to gain on stimulus bets; jobless claims rise

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Weekly jobless claims at 885,000 vs 862,000 in prior week
* Fed maintaining easy monetary policy helps stocks
* Futures up: Dow 0.3%, S&P 0.5%, Nasdaq 0.5%

(Adds comment, updates prices)
By Ambar Warrick and Shreyashi Sanyal
Dec 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
gain on Thursday on increased optimism over a coronavirus
stimulus bill, while an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims
pointed to further economic stress from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Negotiations were underway in Congress late on Wednesday
over the details of a $900 billion aid bill, with top Democrats
and Republicans sounding more positive than they have in months
on a fresh response to a crisis that has killed more than
304,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for jobless
benefits unexpectedly increased last week as a relentless surge
in new coronavirus infections hobbled business operations and
hurt hiring trends. U.S. S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 17 points, or 0.46%, at
08:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 102 points, or
0.34%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 60.25 points, or
0.48%.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates at near-zero levels
on Wednesday and vowed to keep funneling cash into financial
markets over the long term. Equity markets have been among the
main beneficiaries of accommodative policy through the virus
outbreak. "We have been waiting on this stimulus for months now, but
we also have the Federal Reserve buying almost a trillion and a
half dollars worth of assets a year," said Mike O'Rourke, chief
market strategist at JonesTrading.
"They have promised to keep interest rates at zero for the
next three years and that is also where the optimism comes
from."
The Nasdaq .IXIC ended the session on Wednesday at a
second consecutive record high, with technology stocks in demand
due to their perceived resilience through the pandemic.
Big U.S. lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N ,
Wells Fargo WFC.N , Morgan Stanley MS.N , Citigroup Inc C.N ,
Bank of America Corp BAC.N and Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N
rose between 0.3% and 0.6% in premarket trade.
Outsourcing services provider Accenture ACN.N rose 6.7%
after it raised its annual sales forecast and beat quarterly
revenue estimates as an extended work-from-home period boosted
its digital, cloud and security services. MacroGenics Inc MGNX.O jumped 16.7% after the drug
developer said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had
approved its treatment for an advanced type of breast cancer.