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

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* Weekly jobs claims fall 261,000 to 6.6 mln
* Financials sector biggest boost to S&P 500
* Real estate, utilities jump over 5%
* Oil rises as major producers work on deal to cut output
* Indexes jump: Dow 2.24%, S&P 2.27%, Nasdaq 1.29%

(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 hammered by the coronavirus outbreak.
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 financial index .SPSY rose 6.09%, providing the
biggest boost to the S&P 500 .SPX as banks rose sharply on the
Fed's backstop. J.P. Morgan JPM.N rose over 9%, leading gains
on the Dow .DJI . The defensive real estate .SPLRCR and utilities .SPLRCU
sectors also jumped more than 5%.
The S&P 500 has gained near 13% 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.
If gains hold through the day, the benchmark index would
have logged its best week since October 1974.
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.
"This week brought early signs that the restrictions put in
place over recent weeks are flattening the epidemic curve in the
U.S.," said Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital
Economics.
"But set against that good news, there are clearer signs
that the hit to employment has been harder than initially
anticipated."
A staggering 16.8 million Americans have filed for
unemployment benefits in the last three weeks, with weekly new
claims topping 6 million for the second straight time last week.
Exxon Mobil XOM.N , Marathon Oil MRO.N and Apache Corp
APA.N rose between 3% and 20% tracking oil prices, which
gained as OPEC and other crude producers work on a deal to
drastically cut output in response to a collapse in global
demand. O/R
At 1:09 p.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 523.97 points, or 2.24%, at 23,957.54, the S&P 500 .SPX was
up 62.48 points, or 2.27%, at 2,812.46 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was up 104.19 points, or 1.29%, at 8,195.09.
Walt Disney Co DIS.N jumped 4.97%, as the company said its
Disney+ streaming service had attracted more than 50 million
paid users globally. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 11.27-to-1
ratio on the NYSE AND a 4.48-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded five new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 14 new highs and eight new lows.