US STOCKS-Wall Street set to open higher on upbeat China data, firming yuan

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* Symantec up as Broadcom in talks to buy its unit- report
* AMD up on landing Alphabet, Twitter as customers
* Lyft rises after raising FY forecast; boosts Uber
* CenturyLink down after revenue misses estimates
* Futures up: Dow 0.31%, S&P 0.36%, Nasdaq 0.52%

(Adds quote, details; Updates prices)
By Medha Singh
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open higher on
Thursday as better-than-expected trade data from China and a
steadying of its currency offered some comfort to investors
rattled by an escalation in trade tensions and signals pointing
to a recession.
The yuan regained some ground as China's central bank set
its official midpoint firmer than market expectations, signaling
an intent to stabilize a decline in the currency. Exports from
the world's second-largest economy posted a surprise rise, while
imports fell less than forecast. CNY/ "It's (data) very reassuring for investors because that
shows the economics of the world aren't degrading rapidly," said
Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners
in Pittsburgh.
Markets have been roiled this week after a slide in yuan was
perceived as China's retaliation to President Donald Trump's
latest threat of imposing a fresh round of tariffs on Chinese
imports.
Signals from the bond market were ominous as well, with a
closely watched U.S. recession indicator reaching its highest
level since March 2007 on Tuesday.
While the benchmark index has enjoyed a slight relief in the
past two days, it still stands about 5% away from its record
closing high hit last month.
At 8:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 80 points, or
0.31%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 10.5 points, or 0.36% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 39.25 points, or 0.52%.
Shares of Symantec Corp SYMC.O and Advanced Micro Devices
Inc AMD.O bolstered futures for Nasdaq 100. Symantec jumped
11% after sources said chipmaker Broadcom Inc AVGO.O was in
advanced talks to buy the cybersecurity company's enterprise
business. AMD gained 6% after the chipmaker released the second
generation of its processor chip for data centers and said that
it had landed Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O Google and Twitter Inc
TWTR.N as customers. Lyft Inc LYFT.O advanced 7.7% after the ride hailing
service raised its outlook for the year and forecast a faster
path to profitability. Rival Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N , due
to report quarterly results after the bell, rose
4.8%. Shares of Walt Disney Co DIS.N rose 1.1% after Credit
Suisse upgraded its shares to "outperform" on positive investor
sentiment as its video streaming service Disney+ closes in on
its U.S. launch.
Shares of CenturyLink Inc CTL.N fell 3.5% after the
telecommunications services provider missed second-quarter
revenue estimates.