US STOCKS-Boeing, lockdown easing hopes set to lift Wall Street

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Gilead surges on report of positive data from COVID-19
trial
* Boeing to resume airplane production in Washington
* Schlumberger records $8.5 bln charge in first quarter
* Futures jump: Dow 2.90%, S&P 2.48%, Nasdaq 1.64%

(Adds quote, details; Updates prices)
By Medha Singh
April 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to jump at the open
on Friday following President Donald Trump's new guidelines to
re-open the economy and on a report of a drug to potentially
treat COVID-19, while Boeing headed higher on plans to resume
production.
The biggest U.S. planemaker BA.N soared 11.2% in premarket
trading after saying it would resume commercial aircraft
production next week in Washington state after halting
operations last month due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX is now set for its third weekly
gain in four, on the back of a raft of global stimulus measures
and hopes that statewide lockdowns would be eased as the virus
outbreak showed signs of ebbing.
Late on Thursday, Trump outlined a plan to ease the shutdown
in a staggered, three-stage process, but the plan was a set of
recommendations rather than orders and left the decision largely
up to state governors. Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O surged 11% following a media
report that patients with severe symptoms of the disease had
responded positively to its experimental drug, remdesivir.
"With news of a potential beneficial treatment on the same
day that Trump laid out plans to re-open the U.S. economy, there
is clear optimism over the possibility that some semblance of
normality could soon return," Joshua Mahony, senior market
analyst at IG in London wrote in a note.
The risk-on sentiment pushed Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX
below 40, but the S&P 500 is still about 20% away from
reclaiming its record high and evidence of a severe economic
slump is piling up.
With widespread production halts putting millions out of
work, U.S. jobless claims touched 22 million in the past month,
while China's economy contracted for the first time in nearly
three decades in the first quarter. Big U.S. lenders rebounded in premarket trading with Bank of
America Corp BAC.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and JPMorgan Chase &
Co JPM.N rising more than 6% after being hammered this week on
reporting several billion dollars in reserves to cover potential
loan defaults.
"The mid-week souring in risk sentiment is seeing a
turnaround, as optimism for a way out of this virus crisis
returns to the markets," said Raffi Boyadjian, senior investment
analyst at XM in Cyprus.
The world's top oilfield services provider Schlumberger NV
SLB.N rose 5% even as it recorded an $8.5 billion charge in
the first quarter and cut its dividend after slashing the value
of some of its units following a collapse in oil prices.
At 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 678 points, or
2.9%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 69 points, or 2.48% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 143 points, or 1.64%.