US STOCKS-Futures rise ahead of weekly unemployment data

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* Futures up: Dow 0.23%, S&P 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.14%

By Devik Jain and Ambar Warrick
Dec 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on
Wednesday as investors appeared to have shrugged off President
Donald Trump's threat to not sign a COVID-19 stimulus bill,
while also waiting for a reading on weekly jobless claims and
consumer spending data.
In a video posted on Twitter, Trump said the hard-fought
pandemic relief package worth $892 billion should be amended to
increase the amount in the stimulus checks to $2,000 for
individuals, instead of the "ridiculously low" $600.
U.S. futures had dropped as much as 1% in Asian trade,
before recovering later in the session.
The S&P 500 and the Dow lost ground on Tuesday as concerns
over a new variant of the coronavirus in Britain and
underwhelming economic data weighed on near-term sentiment. But
gains in Apple Inc AAPL.O pushed the Nasdaq to a record close.
Investors are now looking out for the Labor Department's
weekly unemployment report due at 8:30 am ET (1330 GMT), which
is expected to show a still dismal labor market as widespread
business restrictions to curb the spread of new COVID-19
infections kept employers on edge.
Consumer spending data for November, which is also due at
8:30 am ET, is expected to show weakness in spending trends
because of the softer job market.
At 6:36 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 69 points, or
0.23%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 10.5 points, or 0.29%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 18 points, or 0.14%.
Easy monetary policy and increased liquidity in the market
has set Wall Street's main indexes for strong annual gains,
despite a rough start to the year.
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc PFE.N rose 0.5% in pre-market trade
after a report said it was close to striking a deal with the
U.S. government to supply at least tens of millions of
additional doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate next year.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc SUPN.O jumped 24.3% after its
experimental drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
met the main goal of a late-stage study in adults. Walmart Inc WMT.N fell 0.5% after the U.S. Justice
Department accused the retailer of fuelling the opioid crisis in
the United States. American Airlines Group AAL.O and United Airlines Holdings
UAL.O fell about 0.8% each despite outlining plans to bring
back furloughed employees this month after receiving payroll
support from a recent bill.