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Futures up: Dow 0.9%, Nasdaq 1.5%, S&P 1.2%

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S&P's business activity survey due at 9:45 a.m. ET

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Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) drops on brokerage downgrade

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Crypto stocks gain as bitcoin prices rise

(Updates with prices before opening bell)

By Sruthi Shankar and Johann M Cherian

March 24 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock indexes were poised for strong gains on Monday,

helped by signs the Trump administration is taking a measured

approach on tariffs against its trading partners, while

investors awaited economic data for clues on the health of the

U.S. economy and inflation.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is likely to

exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs while applying

reciprocal levies on April 2, according to media reports over

the weekend that helped sentiment.

Investors picked up battered technology shares in premarket

trading. Amazon.com ( AMZN ) rose 2%, Nvidia ( NVDA ) added 1.9%

and Microsoft ( MSFT ) gained 1.3%.

Tesla jumped 4%, adding to Friday's 5.3% rise.

The main U.S. stock indexes closed slightly higher on Friday

and marked weekly gains after Trump hinted at flexibility on a

new round of tariffs set to go into effect next month.

"The market seems to be reacting in sync with those

up-to-the-minute changes in tariffs," said Peter Andersen,

founder of Andersen Capital Management in Boston.

"The default position for today's investor is to be very

worried about changes that the administration has proposed -

whether or not there are tariffs imposed or if he repeals them,

or if he delays them, it just causes extreme volatility in the

market."

Financial markets have whipsawed over the past several weeks

as traders have been confronted by fears of a sharp U.S.

economic slowdown after Trump announced a series of tariffs last

month on some of its main trading partners including China,

Mexico and Canada.

Several companies have also cited tariff uncertainty as they

lowered their forecasts for the upcoming quarters. Data compiled

by LSEG as of Friday showed, earnings of companies included in

the S&P 500 are expected to grow by 10.5% in 2025, down by 3.5

percentage points since the beginning of the year.

However, U.S. stocks appear to have found a floor after

weeks-long selloff that pushed the benchmark S&P 500 and

the tech-heavy Nasdaq down by 10% from their record

highs - commonly known as correction.

At 8:37 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 67 points,

or 1.17%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis climbed 301.5 points, or

1.51% and Dow E-minis rose 390 points, or 0.92%.

Investors are also awaiting a slew of economic indicators

this week including business activity data for March, weekly

jobless claims and the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE)

price index - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge.

S&P Global's flash PMI readings later in the day are

expected to show U.S. manufacturing and services sector activity

slowed in March.

Among other single stocks, Dun & Bradstreet ( DNB ) rose

3.4% after the data and analytics provider entered an agreement

to be acquired by private equity firm Clearlake Capital in a

$7.7 billion deal.

Lockheed Martin ( LMT ) fell 2.3% as BofA Global Research

downgraded the weapons maker to "neutral" from "buy".

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) advanced 4.7%,

Coinbase added gained 4.2% and Mara Holdings ( MARA )

climbed 4.4%, tracking a 2.6% rise in bitcoin prices.