SoFi CEO enters prepaid forward contract on 1.5 million shares
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* Futures: Dow up 0.04%, S&P up 0.3%, Nasdaq up 0.9%
By Shivani Kumaresan
April 8 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the Nasdaq jumped about
1% on Thursday, as tech-related stocks climbed ahead of weekly
jobless claims data, while reassurance that the Federal Reserve
will maintain its ultra dovish stance for a longer period
supported sentiment.
Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O Facebook Inc
FB.O and Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O rose between 0.8% and 1% in
premarket trading.
High-growth tech stocks have recovered in recent sessions as
U.S. 10-year bond yields US10YT=RR backed off from their
14-month highs.
The most timely report of the U.S. economic health is
expected to show the number of Americans filing for new
unemployment benefits dropped in the latest week, a further sign
that the labor market's conditions were improving.
The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
The central bank acknowledged an improving economic outlook
buoyed by massive fiscal spending and accelerating vaccinations,
minutes released on Wednesday showed. However, the policymakers
noted it would be "some time" before conditions improve enough
for the Fed to rein in its support.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak at a virtual
International Monetary Fund event at 1200 ET (1600 GMT).
The S&P 500 and the Dow ended a choppy session near their
record highs on Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is still
more than 3% below its February all-time high.
U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba BABA.N rose 1.5% as
Jefferies bumped up its price target on the e-commerce firm's
stock.
Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose about 1% on the Joe Biden
administration's $174 billion proposal to boost electric
vehicles. At 6:41 a.m. EDT, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 14 points, or
0.04%, with 26,026 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 EScv1
stock futures up 0.37% Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 130
points, or 0.96%