US STOCKS-Wall Street bounces after worst day since 1987

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* Technology sector gains, Apple lends biggest boost
* Financial, energy stocks trend higher
* Oracle rises as results top estimates
* Indexes up: Dow 2.402.35%, S&P 2.952.86%, Nasdaq 2.882.80%

(Updates to open)
By Sanjana Shivdas
March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes rebounded on Friday
as investors bet on another round of fiscal easing to thwart a
looming global recession in the face of the coronavirus
pandemic.
After Wall Street's worst daily selloff in more than three
decades, indexes recouped some of their losses on optimism that
U.S. Democrats and Republicans could announce a stimulus package
by Friday. Travel stocks, which have borne the brunt of the rout, led
gains, with the S&P 1500 airlines index .SPCOMAIR up 3.4%.
Cruise operator Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH.N
advanced 6.8%.
"What we're headed for is a market that should begin to
settle down (with) investors now expecting the government to get
the economic plan in place and get it into law," said Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York.
Apple Inc AAPL.O rose 3.9% as the iPhone maker said it
would reopen all 42 of its branded stores in China. The stock
provided the biggest boost to the blue-chip Dow index.
All the S&P sectors firmed at least 2%, with the heavyweight
technology .SPLRCT sector leading the gains, up 3.7%.
The rate-sensitive financial sector .SPSY gained 4.5%.
US/
Energy stocks .SPNY rose 5% as crude prices rebounded,
after suffering their worst four-day declines on record. O/R
The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX , a gauge for investor
anxiety, fell 3.6 points to 71.91 after its biggest-ever one-day
surge in history on Thursday. The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes, which had crashed almost
10% on Thursday, are still headed for their worst week since the
financial crisis.
At 9:58 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 509.71 points, or 2.40%, at 21,710.33, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 73.08 points, or 2.95%, at 2,553.72. The Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 207.16 points, or 2.88%, at 7,408.58.
Among other movers, software company Oracle Corp ORCL.N
jumped 10.5% after topping quarterly profit and revenue
expectations and flagging a "minimal impact" from the virus
outbreak on its fourth-quarter revenue. Gap Inc GPS.N climbed 8.7% as it forecast 2020 profit
above market expectations. It also flagged a $100 million sales
hit in Asia and Europe from the outbreak. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 5.72-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 3.41-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and 14 new lows,
while the Nasdaq recorded one new high and 153 new lows.