US STOCKS-Stimulus hopes lift Wall Street, financial stocks lead gains

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* AT&T jumps after activist Elliott urges asset sales
* Healthcare top drag among S&P sectors
* U.S. 10-yr, 30-yr yields hit three-week highs
* Dow up 0.32%, S&P 500 up 0.17%, Nasdaq off 0.04%

(Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
Sept 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes edged higher
on rising expectations of monetary stimulus from global central
banks to boost growth, while a drop in technology and healthcare
stocks kept a check on gains.
Gains in shares of big lenders, including Goldman Sachs,
boosted the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI , following a rise in U.S. Treasury
yields. US/
The Nasdaq index .IXIC , however, came under pressure from
declines in shares of Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Amgen Inc
AMGN.O .
The drugmaker fell 2.75% after analysts raised questions
about data on the company's lung cancer drug, dragging the
healthcare sector .SPXHC down 0.9%. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said late last week
the central bank would "act as appropriate" to sustain economic
expansion, a phrase that financial markets have read as signs of
an interest rate cut. The Fed cut interest rates for the first time since 2008 in
July. Bets of another cut rose after data on Friday showed the
U.S. economy added fewer-than-expected jobs in August.
Traders see a 91.2% chance of a quarter percentage point cut
in the Fed's September policy meeting, up from 90% on Friday,
according to CME's FedWatch. The European Central Bank is also
expected to cut rates later this week. The S&P 500 added to its positive momentum on Monday by
breaking out of its August trading range late last week, said
Shawn Gibson, Chief Investment Officer of asset management firm
Liquid Strategies in Atlanta.
Escalating Sino-U.S trade tensions and the inversion of a
key part of the U.S. yield curve drove the sell-off in August.
However, Monday's gains pushed the S&P 500 to just 1.5% below
its record high.
"Barring any surprise news, this should be a quiet week in
the equity market as most investors are on hold until next week
for the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting," Gibson
said.
Communication services .SPLRCL were lifted by AT&T Inc's
T.N 4.30% gain after shareholder Elliott Management Corp
disclosed a $3.2 billion stake in the company and pushed for
changes. Shares of Fred's Inc FRED.O plunged 40.84% to a record low
after the discount retailer said it filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection. Boeing Co BA.N fell 1.17% after it suspended load testing
of its new widebody 777X aircraft over the weekend as media
reports said a cargo door failed in a ground stress test.
At 10:21 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 85.35 points, or 0.32%, at 26,882.81, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 5.05 points, or 0.17%, at 2,983.76 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was down 2.97 points, or 0.04%, at 8,100.11.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.63-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 1.31-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 29 new 52-week highs and one new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 36 new highs and 33 new lows.