By Peter Nurse
Investing.com - U.S. stocks are set to open higher Thursday, helped by gains in the energy sector after better than expected Chinese export data raised hopes of a prompt recovery for the global economy.
At 7 AM ET (1100 GMT), S&P 500 futures traded 38 points, or 1.4%, higher, Nasdaq futures up 127 points, or 1.4%. The Dow futures contract rose 278 points, or 1.2%.
Dollar-denominated exports from China, the world’s second-largest economy, unexpectedly rose in April for the first time this year, climbing 3.5% from a year ago.
The surprise stoked speculation the Asian giant could recover from its coronavirus lockdown quicker than first thought and support global growth in the process. The dire import data, which fell by 14.2% on the year, has tended to be overlooked.
Adding to the positive tone are sharp gains in oil futures Thursday, fueled by news that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest exporter of oil, had increased its official selling prices.
Extremely low oil prices have been weighing on the energy sector, with many oil producers having to cut spending and reduce dividends to reduce cash breakevens.
At 7 AM ET, U.S. crude June futures traded 8.4% higher at $26.00 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent contract rose 5.7% to $31.31.
On the earnings front, Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) will report earnings after the bell, having already said it is cutting 3,700 jobs in customer support and recruitment as it looks to cut costs as ride volumes crater.
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) stock climbed 14% premarket after the ride-sharing company stated that its ridership had been improving since mid-April.
Ahead of trading, drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY) stock rose 2.9% premarket after weighing in with better than expected quarterly results.
Elsewhere, Peloton (NASDAQ:PTON) stock climbed 15% premarket after the fitness company posted strong fiscal third quarter sales and issued encouraging guidance for the following quarter.
The day’s key economic release will be weekly U.S. jobless claims at 8:30 AM ET (12:30 GMT), a precursor to Friday’s key monthly official employment.
Economists expect claims for first-time unemployment benefits totaled another 3 million last week. That would continue the downward trend of initial claims, from 3.8 million the week before.
This follows the U.S. private sector shedding a record 20.23 million jobs in April, according to Wednesday’s report by payrolls processor ADP (NASDAQ:ADP).
Elsewhere, gold futures rose 0.5% to $1,696.70/oz, while EUR/USD traded at 1.0791, largely flat.