US STOCKS-Wall St set to surge on coronavirus slowdown hopes

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* Futures near one-month high
* Exxon, Halliburton track oil prices higher
* Cruise operators lead gains among S&P 500 firms
* Futures up: Dow 3.24%, S&P 2.8%, Nasdaq 2.59%

(Adds details, comments; Updates prices)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to resume a strong
rally on Tuesday as early signs of a slowdown in coronavirus
cases in U.S. hot spots raised hopes that the sweeping lockdown
measures were working.
U.S. stock index futures hit a near one-month high in early
trading, a day after the three major indexes jumped more than 7%
as the governors of New York and New Jersey said their states
were showing tentative signs of a "flattening" of the virus
outbreak. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said later on Monday new
hospital admissions were trending down in his state, also among
the hardest hit in the United States, where the nationwide death
toll has approached 11,000. "This is looking more like a bear market rally," said Nancy
Perez, senior portfolio manager at Boston Private Wealth in
Miami.
"I think there's still a lot of headwinds that could cause
this market to re-test the lows. There will be the initial
resumption of business on paper, but then the actual actions
will have to follow."
Despite Monday's bounce, the S&P 500 .SPX remains more
than 21% below its mid-February record closing high, and
investors fear reports of more production cuts and staff
furloughs amid prolonged stay-at-home orders.
A Reuters poll of economists said a global recession would
be deeper than previously thought, although most clung to hopes
for a swift rebound. Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX has steadily retreated from
12-year peaks, but volatility is expected to remain high as
companies prepare to report an expected slide in first-quarter
earnings and outline plans to bolster cash reserves.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N throttled back a multi-year investment
spree in shale, LNG and deep water oil production, saying it
would cut planned capital spending this year by 30% as the
pandemic saps energy demand. Oilfield services firm Halliburton Co HAL.N said it would
cut about 350 jobs in Oklahoma and that its executives would
reduce their salaries. Exxon and Halliburton shares jumped 5.4% and 6.3%,
respectively, also tracking a surge in oil prices amid hopes the
world's main oil producers would agree to cut output at a
meeting on Thursday. O/R
Marathon Oil MRO.N and Apache Corp APA.N rose between
5.0% and 13.3% in premarket trading.
Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH.N , Royal Caribbean RCL.N and
Carnival Corp CCL.N , among the most heavily battered stocks
this year due to a near halt in global tourism, rose between 15%
and 18%.
At 08:24 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 728 points,
or 3.24%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 74 points, or 2.8% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 207.75 points, or 2.59%.