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* Weekly jobless claims fall in the latest week
* Oracle falls as revenue misses estimates
* Futures up: Dow 0.3%, S&P 0.6%, Nasdaq 1.7%
(Adds comment, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Shashank Nayar
March 11 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open higher on Thursday as U.S. bond yields retreated to
one-week lows on ebbing concerns over a strong pick up in
inflation, while data showed jobless claims fell more than
expected last week.
Mega-cap stocks Apple Inc AAPL.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O ,
Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O and Tesla Inc TSLA.O gained between 1%
and 4.5% premarket as the benchmark Treasury yields US10UT=RR
dipped to 1.5% after shooting to a one-year high above 1.6% last
week. US/
High-growth tech stocks, which are attempting to regain
their footing after a recent pullback, are sensitive to
increasing interest rates as they are valued on earnings
expected years into the future.
The Nasdaq is now about 7% below its Feb. 12 record close
after falling as much as 12% last week.
The Dow on Wednesday hit a record closing high for the first
time since February as tepid inflation numbers allayed fears
that the economy is running too hot.
"The inflation scare that we saw last week has subsided as
bond yields calm down," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist
at National Securities in New York.
"The market sentiment is turning more optimistic as we get
better results from vaccines that help towards a faster pace of
herd immunity."
A sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, which
includes $1,400 direct payments, received a final nod from
Congress on Thursday and is expected to surpercharge the
economic recovery from a pandemic that has killed more than
528,000 people and thrown millions out of work. Fewer than expected Americans filed new claims for
unemployment benefits last week as an improving public health
environment allows more segments of the economy to reopen.
At 8:39 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 92 points, or
0.29%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 24.75 points, or 0.64%
and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 214.25 points, or 1.68%.
Investors will now eye an auction of U.S. 30-year debt later
in the day. A weak seven-year auction in late February fuelled
inflation concerns and sent yields higher. JD.com Inc JD.O climbed about 6% after the Chinese
e-commerce company reported a jump in fourth-quarter revenue as
it benefited from a broader shift to online shopping triggered
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Bumble Inc BMBL.O jumped about 10.7% after it reported a
bigger-than-estimated rise in fourth-quarter revenue and said it
expected pent-up demand from people who had been avoiding dating
in person due to the pandemic. A so-called "meme" stock AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc
AMC.N gained 6.6% as the cinema chain said the roll-out of
COVID-19 vaccines and the release of major movies, including
"Black Widow", would boost sales this year. Oracle Corp ORCL.N slumped 6% as the business software
maker's cloud division reported quarterly revenue that missed
analysts' estimates on increased competition from Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O and Microsoft Corp MSFT.O .