US STOCKS-S&P 500 set for second straight weekly gain on stimulus hopes

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* Investors starting to price in Biden victory - strategists
* Xilinx surges on report of buyout offer by AMD
* Gilead rises on positive data from final remdesivir study
* Futures up: Dow 0.43%, S&P 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.51%

(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Devik Jain
Oct 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
rise on Friday, setting up the S&P 500 and the Dow for their
second straight weekly gain on hopes of more fiscal aid and
growing expectations of a Democratic victory in next month's
presidential election.
After stalling talks on a comprehensive aid package earlier
this week, U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called for a
"skinny" relief bill that would include elements such as direct
payments and a bailout to the struggling airline sector.
Shares of JetBlue Airways Corp JBLU.O , Delta Air Lines Inc
DAL.N , American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O and United Airlines
Holdings Inc UAL.O edged higher in premarket trading.
"The market is continuing to rise on hopes of some sort of a
conclusion (on stimulus), not only to the airlines, but to the
rest of the country," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 121 points, or
0.43%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 16.75 points, or 0.49%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 59 points, or 0.51%.
Recent trading on Wall Street has been dictated by
negotiations in Washington on more fiscal aid, with stocks
falling sharply on Tuesday after Trump broke off talks with
Democrats.
The three main stock indexes have since recovered, with
investors beginning to digest the possibility of Biden winning
the Nov. 3 election after a fractious debate last month led to a
jump in his lead over Trump in several national polls.
"Some of the market sectors that would be thought of as
performing better under a Biden administration have started
pricing in a higher probability of a Biden victory," said Dan
Eye, head of asset allocation and equity at Fort Pitt Capital
Group in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Gains of about 10% have put the S&P small-cap .SPCY and
mid-cap .IDX indexes on course for their best two-week run
since June, outperforming a 4.5% increase in the benchmark S&P
500 over the same period.
In company news, Xilinx Inc XLNX.O surged 17.4% after a
report said Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O was in talks to
buy the chipmaker in a deal that could be valued at more than
$30 billion. Shares of AMD fell 2.6%. General Electric Co GE.N jumped 6.0% as a report said
Goldman Sachs reinstated coverage on the U.S. industrial
conglomerate with a "buy" rating, saying the company will emerge
stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O rose 2.2% after final data from
the drugmaker's antiviral drug remdesivir showed the treatment
cut COVID-19 recovery time by five days. Attention from next week will also be on Corporate America's
third-quarter earnings season, kicked off by JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM.N , Citigroup Inc C.N and drugmaker Johnson and Johnson
JNJ.N . Analysts expect earnings at S&P 500 firms to have dropped
about 21% in the quarter, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.