US STOCKS-Wall St rallies on hopeful coronavirus signs, healthcare lift

* Insurers jump after Bernie Sanders halts campaign
* Real estate leads gains among major S&P 500 sectors
* Dow up 3.44%, S&P 500 up 3.41%, Nasdaq up 2.58%

(Updates to mid-afternoon, changes byline)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, April 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock markets jumped on
Wednesday on hopeful signs about the coronavirus outbreak in the
United States was close to a peak, with health insurers getting
an additional lift from Bernie Sanders' decision to suspend his
presidential campaign.
Stocks opened higher after President Donald Trump said
Americans might be getting to the top of the "curve" in relation
to the outbreak. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state's
efforts at social distancing were working in getting the virus
under control in one of the biggest hotspots in the country.
"The key focus of 'peak.' That seems to be on every
investor's mind right now is when will coronavirus cases peak,"
said Eric Freedman, chief investment officer at U.S. Bank Wealth
Management in North Carolina.
"At some point the economic considerations really start to
materialize. Plus, what will that transmission mechanism be for
the economy, meaning in what phase will the economy be
restarted."
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 779.71 points,
or 3.44%, to 23,433.57, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 90.57 points,
or 3.41%, to 2,749.98 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
203.64 points, or 2.58%, to 8,090.90.
After the worst March performance for the S&P 500 in
decades, the benchmark index has bounced back by nearly 23% the
past two weeks, although its main indicator of future volatility
.VIX remains historically high.
Stocks gained an additional lift as the healthcare sector
.SPXHC gained ground in the wake of Sanders' decision to drop
his campaign for the White House. Sanders' embrace of a Medicare
for All healthcare policy would have essentially abolished
private insurance and had cast a shadow over healthcare stocks
for months. UnitedHealth Group Inc UNH.N jumped 7.98% in the biggest
boost to the Dow, while Anthem ANTM.N climbed 10.25%.
Even with the big gains in recent weeks, in part due to
massive fiscal and monetary stimulus measures, the S&P 500 is
still down almost 19% from its record high in mid-February, as
measures to contain the virus brought the U.S. economy to a
virtual halt.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released the minutes from
last month's two emergency meetings. These showed officials grew
increasingly concerned by the swiftness with which the pandemic
was harming the U.S. economy and disrupting financial markets,
prompting them to take "forceful action." The energy sector .SPNY , up 6.74%, was also a bright spot
as one of the best performing sectors on the day, as WTI crude
CLc1 settled up more than 6% on hopes of a production cut by
OPEC and its allies on Thursday. Tesla Inc TSLA.O and Boeing Co BA.N supplier Spirit
AeroSystems SPR.N became the latest companies to furlough
workers.
Spirit's shares jumped 16.01%, while Tesla edged up 0.62%.
Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
6.89-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 4.87-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted 3 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the
Nasdaq Composite recorded 6 new highs and 21 new lows.
Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.56 billion shares, compared
to the 15.25 billion average for the full session over the last
20 trading days.