US STOCKS-Wall Street set to drop on fears over new coronavirus strain

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* Travel stocks lead declines on disruption fears
* Big banks jump after Fed's stress test results
* U.S. Congress set to vote on $900 bln relief bill
* Tesla slips from record high ahead of S&P 500 debut
* Futures down: Dow 1.69%, S&P 1.90%, Nasdaq 1.18%

(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Ambar Warrick and Devik Jain
Dec 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
fall from record levels on Monday, with travel stocks leading
declines, as concerns over a new strain of the coronavirus in
Britain prompted investors to lock in profits.
The strain, which is said to be up to 70% more transmissible
than the original, forced major European countries to shut their
borders with the UK and sowed fears of further economic
disruptions. Airline stocks tumbled in trading before the bell, with
United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O , Delta Air Lines Inc
DAL.N and American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O , falling between
3.7% and 4.4%.
Cruise operators Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL.N ,
Carnival Corp CCL.N and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd
NCLH.N also fell between 5.8% and 7.6%.
"Profit-taking could be a part of it ... people get nervous
because of the new strain. You're seeing people reacting, rather
than thinking first," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio
manager at Dakota Wealth in New York.
The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX , also known as Wall
Street's "fear gauge", jumped 29.7 points to its highest level
since early November.
At 8:23 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 508 points,
or 1.69%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 70.25 points, or
1.9%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 150 points, or
1.18%.
U.S. congressional leaders were poised to vote on a $900
billion stimulus package to provide fresh aid to the
virus-stricken economy. Optimism over the bill had seen Wall
Street indexes reach record highs last week. Goldman Sachs GS.N , Citigroup Inc C.N , Morgan Stanley
MS.N , Bank of America Corp BAC.N and JPMorgan Chase & Co
JPM.N rose between 1% and 3.3% after the Federal Reserve
permitted major lenders to pay out dividends and buy back stock
on a limited basis following a stress test. Nike Inc NKE.N gained 5.9% amid a series of price target
hikes on the stock after the athletic apparel maker raised its
full-year revenue forecast. The stock was among the biggest
gainers on the Dow in premarket trade. Electric-car maker Tesla Inc TSLA.O , which has soared more
than 730% so far this year, slipped 4.5% ahead of its much
anticipated debut into the benchmark S&P 500 index .SPX .
Lockheed Martin Corp LMT.N fell 0.9% after it agreed to
buy U.S. rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings
Inc AJRD.N for $4.4 billion. Shares of Aerojet Rocketdyne were
up 25.7%.
Planemaker Boeing Co BA.N slipped 4.7% on a U.S. Senate
report that Boeing officials "inappropriately coached" test
pilots during recertification efforts.