US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow aim record open as economic rebound hopes fuel rally

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* FLIR Systems jumps to near 1-year high on $8 bln takeover
deal
* Tesla shares set to hit new high on strong 2020 deliveries
* Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley shares rise after rating
upgrades
* Futures up: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.37%, Nasdaq 0.45%

(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shivani Kumaresan
Jan 4 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow were set to open
at a record high in the first trading session of the year on
Monday, building on a rally that has been powered by hopes of a
vaccine-driven recovery in the global economy.
Wall Street's major averages rounded off 2020 with strong
gains as a wave of monetary stimulus and promising developments
on the vaccine front helped the indexes recover from their
sharpest contraction in decades.
Latest surveys showed manufacturers across Europe ended the
year on a positive note, while Asian factory activity expanded
moderately, thanks to robust demand in regional giant China.
U.S. factory activity data is expected later in the day.
On the vaccine front, Britain on Monday became the first
country to roll out the COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford
University and AstraZeneca AZN.L . "A lot of people that may have missed out or sold at the
wrong time last year are now saying I want to get in. The coast
is clear, the vaccines are coming, and they want to start to
participate in the market," said Thomas Hayes, managing member
at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York.
"It is just the question of state governments now picking up
the pace of vaccine administration."
U.S. vaccinations in 2020 fell far short of early government
target of having 20 million people vaccinated by the end of the
year. The government is contemplating giving some people half
the dose of Moderna 's MRNA.O shot in order to speed
inoculation. Some investors are cautious about the pace of economic
growth as U.S. jobless claims remain stubbornly high, while a
new round of business closures last month and the discovery of a
new variant of the coronavirus have cast a shadow on the
outlook.
All eyes are on the twin U.S. Senate runoff elections on
Tuesday in the battleground state of Georgia, which will
determine control of the chamber and, effectively, the fate of
President-elect Joe Biden's agenda including rewriting the tax
code, boosting stimulus and infrastructure spending.
"What you could see is potentially a loss of one seat but it
will not flip the Senate ... the political climate will continue
as is in which case we have a balanced government and a gridlock
in the Congress which historically is very bullish for the stock
market," Hayes said.
At 08:27 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 rose 0.35%, S&P 500
E-minis EScv1 gained 0.37% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1
added 0.45%, with all three stock index futures hitting all-time
highs.
Tesla Inc shares TSLA.O rose about 2% in trading before
the bell to a record high after the electric-car maker reported
better-than-expected vehicle deliveries in 2020, extending a
meteoric rally that has seen the stock surge more than 700%.
Shares of thermal imaging camera supplier FLIR Systems
FLIR.O jumped about 22% to its highest in nearly a year after
Teledyne Technologies Inc TDY.N agreed to buy the thermal
imaging camera supplier for $8 billion in cash and stock.
Shares of Goldman Sachs GS.N and Morgan Stanley MS.N
rose about 1% each, outperforming other U.S. lenders, after
Barclays upgraded its ratings on both stocks to "overweight".