US STOCKS-Wall Street gains ahead of Senate vote on $2 trillion aid package

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* Senate to vote on stimulus bill on Wednesday
* Boeing up 32%, biggest boost to the Dow
* Nike up 10% after beating revenue estimates
* Indexes jump: Dow 4.40%, S&P 2.84%, Nasdaq 1.28%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Medha Singh
March 25 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose in choppy trading on
Wednesday, building on the previous session's gains, as the U.S.
Senate neared a vote to clear a $2 trillion package to support
businesses and households affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Hopes of the stimulus, which followed aggressive liquidity
moves by the Federal Reserve, helped the Dow Jones index .DJI
post its biggest intra-day percentage jump since 1933 on
Tuesday.
After seesawing in early trading, the blue-chip index added
5%, boosted by a 30.4% jump in Boeing Co BA.N as sources said
the planemaker may restart production of 737 MAX jet by May,
setting up the stock for its best day since 1981.
After losing nearly three-quarters of its value since mid
February, the planemaker, once the symbol of U.S. manufacturing
strength, has gained in the last three days as governments mull
bailing out the aerospace industry, which is facing near
collapse in demand.
But with fears of a global recession and corporate defaults
running high amid a breakdown in business activity, traders said
one of the biggest routs on Wall Street may not halt without
evidence of a peaking in new coronavirus cases.
"This market still faces challenges from the coronavirus and
its economic fallout, so there are bound to be false starts,
retracements and tests," said Rick Swope, a director at E*TRADE
Financial Corp in Suwanee, Georgia.
A 9% surge for the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX had helped it
recoup about $1.8 trillion in market value on Tuesday in wild
swings last seen at the height of the global financial crisis.
The CBOE volatility index .VIX , while down from 12-year
peaks hit last week, is still at levels far above those in 2018
and 2019.
"There is a lack of fundamental data that we rely on as
equity investors to determine what prices should be," said Sean
O'Hara, president of Pacer ETFs, a division of Pacer Financial.
"The data that we don't have is what is the impact going to
be to GDP, on earnings and how many people are going to wind up
losing their job."
Data due on Thursday is likely to show U.S. weekly jobless
claims surging to 1 million as companies announce layoffs and
state-wide lockdowns force businesses to shutter stores.
At 1:01 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 911.00 points, or 4.40%, at 21,615.91, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 69.39 points, or 2.84%, at 2,516.72 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 94.71 points, or 1.28%, at 7,512.57.
Industrial stocks .SPLRCI , led by Boeing, were the biggest
boost to the S&P 500, which is still off about $8 trillion in
value from its mid February peak.
Delta Airlines DAL.N , Royal Caribbean Cruises RCL.N and
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings NCLH.N , among the hardest hit
by the coronavirus pandemic, jumped between 18% and 24%.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners 6-to-1 on the NYSE
and 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded no new 52-week high and four new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded three new highs and 41 new lows.