US STOCKS-Wall Street jumps on glimmers of economic recovery

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* Retail sales posts record 17.7% increase in May
* Steroid drug shown to reduce COVID-19 death rates
* Eli Lilly pops after update on breast cancer treatment
* Indexes up: Dow 2.24%, S&P 2.11%, Nasdaq 1.87%

(Updates to late afternoon, changes dateline, byline)
By Stephen Culp
NEW YORK, June 16 (Reuters) - Wall Street surged on Tuesday
as a record jump in retail sales indicated the U.S. economy is
on the road to recovery, five months into its pandemic-inflicted
recession.
All three major U.S. stock indexes were sharply higher, and
on course for their third consecutive daily gains.
The Dow and the S&P remain about 11% and 8% below their
respective record closing highs reached in February, while the
tech-heavy Nasdaq hovers about 1% below its all-time closing
high reached on June 10.
Data released by the Commerce Department showed retail sales
jumped by a record 17.7% in May, blowing past the 8% increase
analysts expected. "We're seeing pretty broad gains," said Peter Cardillo,
chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New
York. "As the economy reopens, you're going to see strong
numbers but after that they're going to peter out."
"As (U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell pointed out,
we have a long way to go," Cardillo added.
Indeed, at the beginning of his two-day testimony before
Congress, Powell said, "Until the public is confident that the
disease is contained, a full recovery is unlikely." With a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases in China and the
United States, along with unabated progression of the pandemic
in Latin America and elsewhere, it could take a while until that
confidence finds a foothold.
But a UK-led drug trial showed low doses of generic steroid
drug dexamethasone reduced COVID-19 death rates among the most
severe cases.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 577.73 points,
or 2.24%, to 26,340.89, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 64.83 points,
or 2.11%, to 3,131.42 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added
181.65 points, or 1.87%, to 9,907.67.
All 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 were well in the black,
with healthcare .SPXHC leading the charge.
The upbeat retail sales data helped push S&P 500's Retail
index .SPXRT 2.3% higher, led by Nordstrom Inc JWN.N and
Kohl's Corp KSS.N , which surged by 14.9% and 7.7%,
respectively.
Blue-chip industrial Caterpillar Inc CAT.N jumped 5.1%
while planemaker Boeing Co BA.N advanced 3.1%.
Shares of Eli Lilly and Co LLY.N surged 16.4% after
announcing its breast cancer therapy's success in a late-stage
study. Oracle Corp ORCL.O was up 2.8% after Wells Fargo hiked its
price target on the company's shares ahead of its earnings
release expected after the bell. Advancing issues outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a
5.32-to-1 ratio; on Nasdaq, a 3.35-to-1 ratio favored advancers.
The S&P 500 posted seven new 52-week highs and no new lows;
the Nasdaq Composite recorded 96 new highs and five new lows.