US STOCKS-Wall St rebounds from Monday's crash as Fed boosts liquidity

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* Fed to buy debt directly from companies
* Defensive utilities, consumer staples lead S&P
* Regeneron rises on potential virus treatment
* Indexes up: Dow 3.69%, S&P 4.88%, Nasdaq 5.19%

(Adds details, updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Sanjana Shivdas
March 17 (Reuters) - Wall Street rebounded on Tuesday,
following its steepest declines since the 1987 crash, as the
Federal Reserve took more steps to boost liquidity in a market
sapped by business and travel disruptions in the wake of the
coronavirus pandemic.
The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX was up 5% after the central
bank relaunched a financial crisis-era purchase of short-term
corporate debt.
The move to buy back Commercial Paper follows several
emergency measures taken by the U.S. central bank on Sunday,
including slashing interest rates to near zero, which sent the
main indexes tumbling 12% on Monday.
That was the benchmark S&P 500's .SPX third-biggest daily
percentage drop on record, beaten only by the 1987 rout and the
Great Depression crash in 1929 as investors fretted over a
looming recession.
"The question is how deep the recession will be; it all
depends on the fiscal stimulus of the governments around the
world," said Elliott Savage, portfolio manager of the YCG
Enhanced Fund in Austin, Texas.
"Fiscal stimulus and seeing coronavirus start to peak -
those are the two things that investors are most focused on
because they are going to tell you what the recovery is going to
look like."
The Trump administration is pursuing a massive $850 billion
stimulus package to buttress an economy reeling from the health
crisis that has brought major cities in the United States to a
standstill. The head of the U.S. securities regulator on Monday said
that U.S. markets should stay open despite intense volatility,
quashing speculation that the government might shut down the
country's exchanges. At 12:29 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 745.20 points, or 3.69%, at 20,933.72, while the S&P 500
.SPX was up 116.44 points, or 4.88%, at 2,502.57. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 358.52 points, or 5.19%, at 7,263.11.
All the 11 S&P sectors were trading in the black, led by the
defensive utilities .SPLRCU , real estate .SPLRCR and
consumer staples .SPLRCS rising between 6% and 9.8%.
Healthcare stocks were another bright spot as Pfizer Inc
PFE.N gained 5.2% after signing a deal with Germany's BioNTech
SE 22UAy.F to co-develop a potential coronavirus vaccine.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O jumped 12.3% after
the company said it had identified antibodies to potentially
treat COVID-19. Boeing Co's BA.N shares tumbled as much as 22% to a
more-than-six-year low on Tuesday following a rating downgrade
that reflected its worsening cash flow due to the extended
grounding of its 737 MAX jet and the blow from the coronavirus
pandemic. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.70-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.30-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and 199 new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded five new highs and 768 new lows.