US STOCKS- Wall St gains as U.S. extends shutdown to limit virus spread

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* Abbott top gainer among S&P 500 components
* Cruise operators slump after brokerage cuts PTs
* Healthcare sector among biggest boosts
* Indexes up: Dow 2.05%, S&P 2.27%, Nasdaq 2.64%

(Updates to late morning)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose on Monday as President
Donald Trump followed last week's massive fiscal stimulus
package by extending his stay-at-home guidelines, leaving
investors hopeful the economic impact of the coronavirus could
still be contained.
A record $2.2 trillion in aid and policy easing from the
Federal Reserve helped equities recover some of their losses
last week, with the S&P 500 .SPX posting its biggest weekly
percentage gain in over a decade and the Dow Jones .DJI its
best since 1938.
That is convincing few that the worst of the most dramatic
sell-off in a decade is over, and Wall Street's fear gauge
.VIX , which predicts future volatility, is still running as
high as it has been since the 2008 financial crisis.
However, the prospect of more government stimulus has given
investors something to hold on to as they wait for signs of
economic relief from the pandemic. All three main indexes rose
by more than 2% on Monday.
"It's a positive that precautionary measures are being
extended," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at
Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
"The market is probably somewhat relieved over that because
at least we'll be able to see, from the virus perspective, when
we can reach a point of being able to get back into growth
mode."
Even taking last week's bounce into account, the severity of
the spread of the virus and the likelihood of a deep global
recession have so-far knocked $7 trillion off the value of S&P
500 companies.
The volatility has been extraordinary and sustained, with
the Dow gaining nearly 2,000 points in one session, only to fall
almost 3,000 points the next day.
"Until we've got some evidence that can help deal with the
virus, it's probably more choppy markets ahead," said Noah
Hamman, chief executive office of AdvisorShares in Bethesda,
Maryland.
JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N said on Saturday it expected
real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) to fall 10% in the first
quarter and plunge 25% in the second quarter. All of the major S&P sectors, however, were higher with
technology stocks .SPLRCT providing the biggest boost.
The healthcare sector .SPXHC was the second-biggest
support to the benchmark index as progress on coronavirus
vaccines and tests being developed by Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N
and Abbott Laboratories ABT.N lifted their shares by about
6.7% and 7.3%, respectively. At 11:23 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 444.16 points, or 2.05%, at 22,080.94, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 57.74 points, or 2.27%, at 2,599.21 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 198.16 points, or 2.64%, at 7,700.54.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd NCLH.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N and Carnival Corp CCL.N were the top
decliners after Berenberg slashed its price targets on cruise
operators by about a third.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.12-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 1.51-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and two new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded five new highs and 19 new lows.