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* Gilead rises on testing Ebola drug for coronavirus
* Apple slips as it shuts China mainland stores
* Nike rises as JP Morgan adds stock to its focus list
* Futures up: Dow 0.52%, S&P 0.60%, Nasdaq 0.70%
(Adds quote, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Feb 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to open higher on
Monday, following steep declines in the previous session, with
China's move to improve liquidity and relieve pressure on its
economy from the impact of the coronavirus epidemic helping the
mood slightly.
China's central bank injected 1.2 trillion yuan ($171
billion) into money markets as it attempts to limit the damage
from travel curbs and business shut-downs on the economy.
However, the intervention could not stop a near 8% plunge in
Chinese stocks .CSI300 as investors played catch-up after an
extended holiday.
Fears surrounding the economic impact of the epidemic, which
has been declared as a global emergency, shaved off more than
600 points from the Dow Jones Industrials .DJI on Friday, with
the three main indexes suffering their worst week in at least
four months.
"People are just looking at this as an opportunity to step
in and do a little bit of buying," said Robert Pavlik, chief
investment strategist and senior portfolio manager at SlateStone
Wealth LLC in New York.
"The coronavirus concerns are still at the forefront of
investors' minds."
The uncertainty following the virus outbreak that pulled the
benchmark S&P 500 .SPX into the red for the year on Friday has
overshadowed fourth-quarter earnings season in the United
States.
Shares of drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O rose 4.4%
in premarket trading after the company said it has provided its
experimental Ebola therapy for use in a small number of patients
affected by the coronavirus in China. Meanwhile, Apple Inc AAPL.O slipped 0.6% as the iPhone
maker shut its official stores and corporate offices in mainland
China until Feb. 9.
At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 147 points, or
0.52%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 19.25 points, or 0.6% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 63.25 points, or 0.7%.
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O gained 1.4% ahead of its quarterly
results due after markets close, while Walt Disney DIS.N ,
General Motors GM.N and Kellogg Co K.N will post their
results later this week.
Shares of Nike Inc NKE.N rose 2.2% after JP Morgan added
the footwear maker's shares to their focus list, while Nektar
Therapeutics NKTR.O climbed 4.1% after Mizuho Securities
upgraded its shares to "buy".
Investors will also keep an eye on Iowa caucuses on Monday,
the first nominating contest of the 2020 presidential election.
On the economic front, manufacturing PMI data from Markit
Economics and Institute for Supply Management are due later this
morning. = 7.0155 Chinese yuan renminbi)