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* TJX Cos jumps after quarterly same store sales beat
* Walt Disney dips as CEO Robert Iger steps down
* U.S. health officials warn pandemic inevitable
* Trump to hold a conference on coronavirus at 6 pm ET
* Futures up: Dow 0.36%, S&P 0.42%, Nasdaq 0.61%
(Adds comment, details, updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes looked set to
gain ground on Wednesday after suffering their worst four-day
percentage fall in more than a year on fears of the economic
damage from the global spread of the coronavirus.
Investors were cautious as the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention urged Americans to prepare for the virus
to spread in the United States. President Donald Trump said he
will hold a news conference on the coronavirus at 6 p.m. (2300
GMT). Although the outbreak in China had peaked, the World Health
Organization (WHO) cautioned that the rapid spread of the virus
to more places was inevitable.
As of Wednesday, death toll in Italy had crossed 19 and new
cases in South Korea rose above 1,260, while Greece and Brazil
reported their first cases of the virus .
"It's unclear if it's something that will be resolved in
weeks or months or a longer time," said Chester Spatt, professor
of finance at Carnegie Mellon University.
"There is potential for shock to both supply and demand
sides of the economy. The magnitude of the shock is uncertain
right now."
At 8:48 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 97 points, or
0.36%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 13.25 points, or 0.42%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 54 points, or 0.61%.
The Dow .DJI has lost more than 1,900 points in the past
two days alone, while the Nasdaq .IXIC has slid 8.9% from its
peak.
The S&P 500 .SPX , which is down 7.8% from its intraday
record high hit last Wednesday, has lost about $1.74 trillion in
market capitalization in the last two sessions, according to S&P
Dow Jones Indices senior analyst Howard Silverblatt.
Among stocks, TJX Cos Inc TJX.N jumped 7.4% in premarket
trading as the offprice retailer beat quarterly same-store sales
estimates. Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O rose 5.8% as Starbucks Corp
SBUX.O said its Canadian stores will start selling the
company's plant-based breakfast sandwich next week. Walt Disney Co DIS.N slipped 1.1% on news Robert Iger will
step down as chief executive officer, handing the reins to
Disney Parks head Bob Chapek.