US STOCKS-Stimulus hopes lift futures ahead of economic data

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* Futures up: Dow 0.79%, S&P 0.88%, Nasdaq 1.28%

By Devik Jain
Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday
as investors remained hopeful of a new coronavirus fiscal aid
package ahead of a clutch of economic data including consumer
spending and weekly jobless claims.
The Trump administration has proposed a new stimulus bill to
House Democrats worth more than $1.5 trillion that includes a
$20 billion extension in aid for the battered airline industry,
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on Wednesday.
U.S. airlines have been pleading for more payroll support to
protect jobs after the current package expired at midnight on
Thursday.
Shares of American Airlines Group Inc AAL.O , Delta Air
Lines Inc DAL.N , United Airlines Holdings Inc UAL.O and
JetBlue Airways Corp JBLU.O rose between 1.3% and 3.6% in thin
premarket trading.
Optimistic comments on fiscal stimulus from Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had
helped Wall Street's main indexes jump on Wednesday, with the
S&P 500 clocking its best two-quarter gain since 2009.
With a clutch of better-than-expected data also boosting
sentiment in the previous session, investors will turn to
consumer spending figures for August and the latest batch of
weekly jobless claims on Thursday to gauge the pace of the
domestic economic recovery.
September data on the manufacturing sector is also due at 10
a.m. ET, while the Labor Department's comprehensive jobs report
is scheduled for release on Friday.
At 6:33 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 219 points, or
0.79%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 29.5 points, or 0.88% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 146.25 points, or 1.28%.
Boeing Co BA.N rose 2.7% a day after Federal Aviation
Administration Chief Steve Dickson conducted a 737 MAX test
flight, a milestone for the jet to win approval to resume flying
after two fatal crashes. PepsiCo Inc PEP.O gained 2.2% after it forecast full-year
profit above estimates as consumers bought more of its snacks
such as Doritos and Cheetos, while staying indoors due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. U.S.-listed shares of French-Italian chipmaker
STMicroelectronics STM.N jumped 6.4% after it saw a sharp rise
in automotive and microcontrollers demand in the third quarter,
setting it on course to top its 2020 forecast. Tech mega-caps including Apple Inc AAPL.O , Nvidia Corp
NVDA.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O
rose between 1.3% and 2.4%.