US STOCKS-Wall St rises on rebound hopes despite jump in virus cases

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window.)
* Biogen submits marketing application for Alzheimer's drug
* Levi Strauss falls after cautious H2 outlook
* Allstate slips on $4 bln deal to buy National General
* Indexes up: Dow 0.76%, S&P 0.75%, Nasdaq 1.08%

(Updates to open)
By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
July 8 (Reuters) - Technology shares boosted Wall Street's
main indexes on Wednesday as early signs of an economic rebound
dominated over fears of another lockdown due to a jump in
coronavirus cases across the country.
Safe-haven gold rose more than 1% as the number of confirmed
U.S. cases surpassed 3 million, affecting nearly one of every
100 Americans. California, Hawaii, Idaho, Missouri, Montana,
Oklahoma and Texas shattered their previous daily record highs
for new infections. GOL/
"We expect the tug of war between better economic data and
concerns over rising COVID-19 cases to continue through the
month unless we get better daily virus numbers, and/or news on a
vaccine," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National
Securities in New York.
The Nasdaq notched an intraday record high on Tuesday but
all the three main stock indexes finished lower as investors
booked profits following a strong run on the back of upbeat
economic data.
Bolstering hopes of a post-pandemic rebound, analysts said
any setback in business activity due to the recent surge in
infections would be short term, leaving their long-term
forecasts for economic growth unchanged.
Markets also appeared to be in a wait-and-see mode before
the beginning of the second-quarter earnings season, which kicks
off next week with reports from big Wall Street banks.
Technology sectors .SPLRCT firmed 1.2%, the most among ten
of the 11 major S&P sectors trading higher.
At 10:05 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 196.92 points, or 0.76%, at 26,087.10, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 23.65 points, or 0.75%, at 3,168.97, and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 112.00 points, or 1.08%, at 10,455.89.
Biogen Inc BIIB.O jumped 5.8% after the company said it
submitted the marketing application for its experimental
Alzheimer's disease therapy, aducanumab. Allstate Corp ALL.N slipped 2.1% as the U.S. insurer said
it would buy National General Holdings Corp NGHC.O for about
$4 billion in cash, scaling up its auto insurance business at a
time when the coronavirus has crushed traffic on roads and
reduced claims. Levi Strauss & Co LEVI.N fell 6.9% as the denim apparel
maker cautioned its business would be hit in the second half of
the year, even as its sales have been improving at its reopened
stores. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.86-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and a 2.50-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 13 new 52-week highs and no new low,
while the Nasdaq recorded 69 new highs and 10 new lows.