Japan PPI inflation slips to 11-mth low in July
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* Futures up: Dow 0.55%, S&P 0.52%, Nasdaq 0.35%
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
Feb 5 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the
Nasdaq hit record highs on Friday as investors expected the
pivotal jobs report to confirm worst of the labor market turmoil
was behind, while progress towards more economic stimulus also
bolstered sentiment.
The Labor Department's data is likely to show U.S. economy
added 50,000 jobs in January after 140,000 jobs were lost in
December, as pandemic-led restrictions eased. The data is
expected at 8:30 a.m. ET (1330 GMT). The report, however, would not lessen the need for
additional relief money from the government as long-term
unemployment was likely becoming entrenched.
President Joe Biden's drive to enact a $1.9 trillion
coronavirus aid bill gained momentum early on Friday as the U.S.
Senate narrowly approved a budget plan allowing the passage of
the legislation in coming weeks with or without Republican
support. The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC are set to wrap up
their best week since the U.S. election in early November as
upbeat earnings and economic data boosted optimism about a
speedy recovery while a retail trading frenzy appeared to fade
following a bout of market volatility last week.
Stronger-than-expected corporate results so far in the
fourth quarter have driven up analysts' expectations, and S&P
500 companies are now on track to post earnings growth for the
quarter instead of a decline as initially expected. At 6:25 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 169 points, or
0.55%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 47.25 points, or 0.35%
and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 20.25 points, or 0.52%.
Pinterest Inc PINS.N jumped 11% after the image-sharing
company reported better-than-expected quarterly results,
benefiting from strong user growth and heavy advertising by
e-commerce retailers during the holiday season. Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N rose 2.2% after the drugmaker said
it had asked U.S. health regulators to authorize its single-dose
COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, and it would apply to
European authorities in coming weeks. Snapchat owner Snap Inc SNAP.N dropped about 7% after it
warned that upcoming privacy changes by Apple Inc AAPL.O could
hurt its ad business.
Shares of videogame retailer GameStop Corp GME.N , which
has shed more than 80% of their value this week, were up 8% at
$58.