US STOCKS-Wall St climbs on hopes of U.S. outbreak nearing peak
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* Top Democrats back emergency business funds
* U.S. posts record single-day jump in coronavirus deaths
* Energy leads gains among major S&P 500 sectors
* Indexes up: Dow 0.98%, S&P 0.95%, Nasdaq 0.86% (Updates to open)
By Uday Sampath Kumar
April 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street rose on Wednesday on hopes the coronavirus outbreak in the United States was close to its peak and expectations that Congress will inject hundreds of billions more in the battered economy.
President Donald Trump said late on Tuesday the United States might be getting to the top of the "curve" in relation to the outbreak, even as New York and several other states posted their highest number of daily virus-related fatalities.
A peaking in new virus cases is widely considered one of the first steps that will push markets into a recovery, but such signals are still tentative and corporate layoffs, cutbacks and losses show no signs of slowing.
"The stock markets are forward looking, so there's anticipation that, hopefully sooner rather than later, the death count will be less than anticipated," said Marc Pfeffer, chief investment officer at CLS Investments in Westchester County, New York.
"I'd like to think that the bottom has been put in, but we can't say for sure. The conversations are now starting to move towards the reopening of the economy."
The benchmark S&P 500 is down nearly 20% from its record high in mid February, despite big gains early this week, as measures to contain the virus brought the U.S. economy to a virtual halt.
Tesla Inc and Boeing Co supplier Spirit AeroSystems became the latest companies to furlough workers as the pandemic forces the closure of U.S. production facilities.
Democratic Congressional leaders said on Wednesday they would back the Trump administration's request for another $250 billion in aid for small businesses.
The package would add to the $2.3 trillion in stimulus already approved and meant to make up for the wages and incomes lost after Americans were ordered to stay home.
Early gains on Tuesday were led by the energy index as oil companies rose tracking crude prices and risk appetite was boosted by the prospect of more fiscal stimulus.
At 10:36 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 223.03 points, or 0.98%, at 22,876.89, the S&P 500 was up 25.20 points, or 0.95%, at 2,684.61 and the Nasdaq Composite was up 67.94 points, or 0.86%, at 7,955.20.
Corporate earnings season starts next week with the major Wall Street banks, and companies are expected to outline more drastic measures as they look to bolster dwindling cash reserves.
Analysts now expect first-quarter earnings for S&P 500 firms to fall 7.5% compared to a Jan. 1 forecast for a rise of 6.3%.
Shares of UPS and FedEx rose 3.51% to 6.26% after Amazon.com Inc said it would suspend its U.S. shipping service.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners for a 3.29-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 2.67-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded one new 52-week high and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded two new highs and nine new lows. (Reporting by Uday Sampath, Medha Singh and Shreyashi Sanyal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
