US STOCKS-Futures gain on stimulus hopes ahead of jobless claims

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* Futures up: Dow 0.4%, S&P 0.5%, Nasdaq 0.5%

By Ambar Warrick
Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday
on increased hopes of imminent signing of a coronavirus stimulus
bill, while investors kept an eye out for economic cues from
weekly unemployment data due later in the day.
Negotiations were underway in Congress late on Wednesday
over the details of a $900 billion aid bill, with top Democrats
and Republicans sounding more positive than they have in months
on a fresh response to a crisis that has killed more than
304,000 Americans and thrown millions out of work. Investors are now awaiting weekly jobless claims data, due
at 8:30 a.m. ET, after last week's reading showed jobless claims
jumping to a three-month high due to continued disruptions
caused by the pandemic. U.S. S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 20 points, or 0.54%, at
05:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 127 points, or
0.42%, while Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 63.25 points, or
0.50%.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates at near-zero levels
on Wednesday and vowed to keep funneling cash into financial
markets over the long term. Equity markets have been among the
main beneficiaries of accommodative policy through the virus
outbreak. The Nasdaq .IXIC ended Wednesday at a second consecutive
record high, with technology stocks in demand due to their
perceived resilience through the pandemic.
Big U.S. lenders including JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N ,
Wells Fargo WFC.N , Morgan Stanley MS.N , Citigroup Inc C.N ,
Bank of America Corp BAC.N and Goldman Sachs Group Inc GS.N
rose between 0.3% and 0.8% in premarket trade.
MacroGenics Inc MGNX.O jumped 18.1% after the drug
developer said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had
approved its treatment for an advanced type of breast cancer.