US STOCKS-Wall St rises as Congress prepares more stimulus, oil prices bounce

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* U.S. Senate passes aid package, bill heads to House
* Energy stocks lead gains among major S&P sub-indexes
* Netflix doubles expected signups on stay-at-home orders
* Chipotle jumps as online sales help amid pandemic
* Indexes up: Dow 1.94%, S&P 500 2.13%, Nasdaq 2.36%

(Adds comments, updates prices to early afternoon)
By C Nivedita and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 22 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes surged on
Wednesday as oil prices recovered some ground and Congress
looked on course to seal nearly $500 billion more in aid to help
small businesses ride out the coronavirus crisis.
U.S. crude and benchmark Brent prices edged higher after a
collapse in the past two days, sending the S&P 500 energy index
.SPNY up 3.1%.
All the 11 major S&P 500 sub-indexes were trading higher, as
the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the new relief package,
adding to trillions of dollars in stimulus that have helped Wall
Street rebound from its March lows.
The House of Representatives is expected to clear the bill
on Thursday. "The (stimulus) response times have been way faster than
what you saw in 2008. What you're seeing is the tail risk
removal that stops the equity downturn and allows the market to
actually look forward," said Anik Sen, global head of equities
at PineBridge Investments in New York.
The benchmark S&P 500 is still 17% below its record high as
state-wide shutdowns spark layoffs and crush consumer spending,
putting several sectors at the risk of collapse.
Estimates for U.S. jobless claims for the latest week range
as high as 5.5 million, while a reading on April U.S. factory
activity is likely to fall to levels last seen during the 2008
financial crisis. Both reports are due Thursday.
Analysts have drastically cut their S&P 500 earnings
expectations for the first and second quarters and are now
projecting a corporate recession for 2020, according to IBES
data from Refinitiv.
A week after the big U.S. banks issued dismal 2020
forecasts, consumer discretionary and technology firms fared
slightly better as the lockdown measures boosted demand for
online streaming and home delivery of meals.
"I think this earnings season is really going to be a
function of which companies and which industries are holding
up... and are able to withstand the decline in this market and
to ride it out," said Nancy Perez, senior portfolio manager at
Boston Private Wealth in Miami.
Investors will also be paying close attention to capital
allocation from companies going forward, Perez further added,
"you have to have the cash to sustain and ride out to the other
side."
Fast-casual chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc CMG.N jumped
13% after it reported soaring digital and home delivery sales
and said it had enough cash and liquidity to get through the
next year.
Netflix Inc NFLX.O more than doubled its own projections
for new customers in the first quarter. However, its shares fell
2.8% as it forecast a weaker second half if the lockdown
measures were to be lifted. In another sharp swing that has now become a common
occurrence on Wall Street, at 12:32 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones
Industrial Average .DJI was up 447.03 points, or 1.94%, at
23,465.91 and the S&P 500 .SPX was up 58.30 points, or 2.13%,
at 2,794.86.
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC was up 195.06 points, or 2.36%,
at 8,458.29.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.38-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.38-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded two new 52-week highs and one new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 20 new highs and 12 new lows.