US STOCKS-Wall Street struggles to hold on to gains as virus fears return

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* Senate set to vote on stimulus bill on Wednesday
* Boeing top gainer among Dow components
* Nike up 11% after beating revenue estimates
* Indexes: S&P gains 0.88%, Nasdaq flat, Dow up 2.68%

(Updates to late morning, adds comment)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
March 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street on Wednesday was unable to
sustain strong gains from the previous session as fears about
the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic overshadowed
optimism from sweeping fiscal and monetary stimulus to aid
businesses and households.
All three main indexes had snapped higher in early trading
as Washington reached a deal on a $2 trillion economic rescue
package following aggressive liquidity moves by the Federal
Reserve earlier this week.
But both set of actions failed to allay concerns the world
was sliding into recession. The likelihood of corporate defaults
amid a collapse in business activity returned to the forefront
on Wednesday, weighing on the S&P 500 .SPX and tech-heavy
Nasdaq .IXIC in a choppy session.
The Dow .DJI rose 2.7%, boosted by a 27% gain for Boeing
Co BA.N , as sources said the planemaker planned to restart
production of its grounded 737 MAX jet by May.
"There is a lack of fundamental data that we rely on as
equity investors to determine what prices should be," said Sean
O'Hara, president of Pacer ETFs, a division of Pacer Financial.
"The data that we don't have is what is the impact going to
be to GDP, on earnings and how many people are going to wind up
losing their job."
Wall Street had staged a furious rally on Tuesday, with the
Dow posting its best day since 1933, in wild swings that were
last seen at the height of the global financial crisis.
The Senate will vote on the rescue package later on
Wednesday and the House of Representatives is expected to follow
soon after.
The total figure at stake exceeds the amount the country
spends on national defense, scientific research, highway
construction and other discretionary programs combined.

"What's remarkable in this particular crisis compared to
2008 is the response by policymakers because the speed with
which they've revamped existing programs and introduced new ones
is completely unprecedented," said Andrea Cicione, head of
strategy at TS Lombard.
At 11:32 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 554.45 points, or 2.68%, at 21,259.36, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 21.59 points, or 0.88%, at 2,468.92 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 1.03 points, or 0.01%, at 7,418.89.
Industrial stocks .SPLRCI , led by Boeing, were the biggest
boost to the S&P 500, which is still off about $8 trillion in
value from its mid February peak.
Nike NKE.N gained 12% after beating quarterly revenue
estimates and reporting rebounding sales in China. American Airlines AAL.O , Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL.N
and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH.N , among the hardest
hit by the coronavirus pandemic, jumped between 15% and 21%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.01-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.50-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and four new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded three new highs and 36 new lows.