US STOCKS-Wall Street rises on Fed's $2.3 trillion backstop

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* Weekly jobs claims fall 261,000 to 6.6 mln
* Oil rises as major producers work on deal to cut output
* Citi, Wells Fargo jump over 10%
* Real estate, utilities lead gains
* Indexes jump: Dow 1.97%, S&P 1.82%, Nasdaq 0.87%

(Updates to early afternoon)
By Uday Sampath Kumar and Shreyashi Sanyal
April 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose for the third time in
four days on Thursday as the U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out a
massive $2.3 trillion program to bolster local governments and
businesses, while oil prices gained on expectations of a drastic
cut in output.
In what is likely to be its largest rescue effort ever, the
Fed said it would work with banks to offer 4-year loans to
companies of up to 10,000 employees and directly buy bonds of
states and more populous counties and cities. "(The Fed's move) should give some confidence to investors,
that the risks this time around are maybe not the same as the
risks in the financial crisis," said Randy Watts, chief
investment officer at O'Neil Global Advisors.
"While this rally has been impressive, the market probably
is a little bit of ahead of itself and we would not be surprised
to see a pullback from here."
The defensive real estate .SPLRCR and utilities .SPLRCU
sectors jumped more than 5% to lead gains among the major S&P
500 sectors.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Chevron CVX.N and Apache Corp APA.N
rose between 2% and 18% as oil prices gained, as sources said
OPEC and other oil producers would debate cuts as big as 20
million barrels per day, equivalent to about 20% of global
supplies. O/R
Meanwhile, data showed initial U.S. jobless claims fell
slightly last week to 6.6 million, from an upwardly revised 6.87
million the week before. The S&P 500 has regained about 12% in the holiday-shortened
week on early signs of the outbreak hitting a peak and
aggressive global stimulus, but it remains about 17% below its
record high as lockdown measures hamper business activity.
While public health experts stressed the need to keep people
apart to contain the contagion, the restrictions have strangled
the economy and sparked widespread production cuts, layoffs and
projections of a severe recession.
"A rally doesn't mean we're out of the woods just yet nor
that volatility is a thing of the past," said Mike Loewengart,
managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial
Corp in New York.
"If there is one thing recent history has shown us, it's
that optimism can wear off quickly if cases climb or
stay-at-home orders are extended."
At 11:48 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 461.04 points, or 1.97%, at 23,894.61, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 50.16 points, or 1.82%, at 2,800.14 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 70.01 points, or 0.87%, at 8,160.92.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N jumped 4.1% as the company said its
Disney+ streaming service had attracted more than 50 million
paid users globally. Wall Street's big banks also rose at least 4%, with
Citigroup C.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N jumping more than 10%
each.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 9-to-1 on
the NYSE and 4-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 13 new highs and six new lows.