US STOCKS-Wall Street gains ground after virus-driven selloff

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* TJX Cos jumps after quarterly same store sales beat
* Walt Disney dips as CEO Robert Iger steps down
* U.S. health officials warn pandemic inevitable
* Trump to hold a conference on coronavirus at 6 pm ET
* Indexes up: Dow 1.08%, S&P 1.25%, Nasdaq 1.54%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
Feb 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes rose about 1%
on Wednesday after suffering their worst four-day percentage
fall in more than a year on fears of the economic damage from
the global spread of the coronavirus.
Investors were cautious as the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention urged Americans to prepare for the virus
to spread in the United States. President Donald Trump said he
will hold a news conference on the coronavirus at 6 p.m. ET
(2300 GMT).
As of Wednesday, death toll in Italy had crossed 19 and new
cases in South Korea rose above 1,260, while Greece and Brazil
reported their first cases of the virus.
"It's unclear if it's something that will be resolved in
weeks or months or a longer time," said Chester Spatt, professor
of finance at Carnegie Mellon University.
"There is potential for shock to both supply and demand
sides of the economy. The magnitude of the shock is uncertain
right now."
All major S&P sectors were trading higher, with technology
.SPLRCT leading the charge on a 1.6% gain. Defensive utilities
.SPLRCU , real estate .SPLRCR and consumer staples .SPLRCS
were the laggards.
At 09:46 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 291.27 points, or 1.08%, at 27,372.63 and the S&P 500
.SPX was up 39.01 points, or 1.25%, at 3,167.22. The Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 138.33 points, or 1.54%, at 9,103.94.
The Dow .DJI has lost more than 1,900 points in the past
two days alone, while the Nasdaq .IXIC has slid 8.9% from its
record peak hit last Wednesday.
The S&P 500 .SPX , which is down 7.8% from its all-time
high, has lost about $1.74 trillion in market capitalization in
the last two sessions, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices senior
analyst Howard Silverblatt.
Among stocks, TJX Cos Inc TJX.N jumped 7.8% as the
offprice retailer beat quarterly same-store sales estimates.
Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O rose 6.1% as Starbucks Corp
SBUX.O said its Canadian stores would start selling the
company's plant-based breakfast sandwich next week. Walt Disney Co DIS.N slipped 0.6% on news Robert Iger will
step down as chief executive officer, handing the reins to
Disney Parks head Bob Chapek. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.63-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and by a 2.91-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week highs and 12 new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 10 new highs and 56 new lows.