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* Futures: Dow rises 0.18%, S&P up 0.08%, Nasdaq flat
By Medha Singh
Aug 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were flat on
Thursday as investors looked forward to the latest weekly
jobless claims report to gauge the pace of a rebound in the
labor market, while also anticipating a new fiscal stimulus
bill.
Official numbers are expected to show 1.415 million
Americans filed for state unemployment benefits in the latest
week, down slightly after two consecutive weeks of huge
increases triggered fears of a stalled recovery in the labor
market.
The Labor Department's economic data comes ahead of the more
comprehensive monthly jobs report on Friday.
Despite concerns about the economy, Wall Street's main
indexes are headed towards their second consecutive weekly gain,
driven by heaps of fiscal and monetary stimulus and much better
than feared second-quarter earnings. The S&P 500 is 2% below its
February record high.
Top congressional Democrats and White House officials will
try again on Thursday to find a compromise on legislation that
would enable Congress to come to the aid of Americans reeling
from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At 6:17 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 50 points, or
0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 2.75 points, or 0.08% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 1.5 points, or 0.01%.
The top decliner among components of the Nasdaq 100 index
was Western Digital shares WDC.O , which sank 8.9% pre-market
after the hard drive maker reported weaker-than-expected
fourth-quarter revenue and forecast a soft current quarter
outlook. Drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co BMY.N rose 5.7% ahead of
its quarterly results.