US STOCKS-S&P 500, Dow set to open higher shrugging off bleak GDP, jobless claims data

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* Weekly jobless claims dip, but still remain high
* U.S. economy contracts in 2020; worst performance since
1946
* Tesla slips after disappointing results
* Futures: Dow up 0.57%, S&P up 0.37%, Nasdaq down 0.17%

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By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Jan 28 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones indexes
were set to open higher on Thursday, shrugging off data which
showed another sharp contraction in the U.S. economy and a rise
in weekly jobless claims.
The U.S. economy contracted at its sharpest pace since World
War Two in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged services businesses such as
restaurants and airlines.
A separate report showed 847,000 more people likely filed
jobless claims last week, strengthening views of a persistent
labor market weakness. "This is a market which thinks about what the economy might
look like six months from now ... and I think this is a time
when the near-term numbers are of very little consequence to
most investors," said Rick Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane
Investments, a family investment office in New Vernon, New
Jersey.
With the quarterly earnings season in full swing, earnings
from mega-cap technology-related firms were mixed as investors
also started to question whether companies including Apple Inc
AAPL.O , Facebook Inc FB.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O could
justify their premium valuations.
"Investors are digesting earnings that came out overnight
and this morning, and taking a look at the fundamentals of
what's going on in specific companies, as well as any outlook
that can be provided to try to justify valuations," said Brian
Vendig, managing executive at MJP Wealth Advisors in Westport,
Connecticut.
Vendig added that investors could be rethinking positions
over the next couple of weeks as more companies come out with
their earnings reports.
Apple reported holiday-quarter sales and profit that beat
Wall Street expectations, however, shares of the iPhone maker
fell 1.8% premarket. Facebook dipped 0.9% as it warned Apple's impending privacy
changes could hurt revenue by interfering with ad targeting,
even after soundly beating quarterly revenue estimates.
Tesla lost 4.9% after the electric-car maker reported
disappointing fourth-quarter results and failed to provide a
clear target for 2021 vehicle deliveries. Concerns about slowing momentum in economic recovery due to
rising coronavirus cases, heightened stock market valuations,
and uneven distribution of vaccine rollouts have kept investors
on edge about a pullback and increase in volatility in the
near-term.
At 8:54 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 171 points, or
0.57%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 14 points, or 0.37%, and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 22 points, or 0.17%.
Comcast Corp CMCSA.O added 4.2% after it reported better
than expected fourth-quarter revenue, as broadband demand
continued to offset pandemic-related weakness in its theme park
and filmed entertainment businesses. Payments processor Mastercard Inc MA.N gained 3.2% after
it beat Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit.