US STOCKS-Futures jump on reports of coronavirus treatment breakthroughs

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* Futures up: Dow 0.77%, S&P 0.73%, Nasdaq 0.91%

By Medha Singh
Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures surged on
Wednesday on reports of medical breakthroughs in the fight
against the fast-spreading coronavirus and expectations of more
stimulus from China to limit the economic fallout of the
epidemic.
A Chinese university found an effective drug to treat people
with the new virus, according to a local TV report. Separately,
researchers in the UK told Sky news that they made a
"significant breakthrough" in finding a vaccine. Reuters has not verified the media reports, but several
traders cited them for the sharp moves in global stock markets.
U.S. stock index futures turned positive and the world equity
index .MIWD00000PUS moved sharply higher after the reports.
The World Health Organization, however, played down the
reports, saying "there are no known effective therapeutics
against this 2019-nCoV (virus)". The benchmark S&P 500 posted its best one-day gain in about
six months on Tuesday, while the Nasdaq hit a record high after
China pumped in hundreds of billions of dollars into the
financial system this week to limit the impact of the epidemic.
The country's central bank is likely to lower its key rate
on Feb. 20, sources told Reuters, as the death toll from the
virus epidemic climbs to nearly 500.
United Airlines UAL.O and American Airlines Group AAL.O
both suspended all flights to and from Hong Kong, effectively
leaving no U.S. carrier flying passengers to the Asian financial
hub. Their shares rose 1.8% and 1.2%, respectively, in premarket
trading.
At 7:28 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 221 points, or
0.77%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 24.25 points, or 0.73%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 85 points, or 0.91%.
With the latest U.S. earnings season at the halfway mark,
corporate America has largely beaten Wall Street expectations.
Analysts now expect profit for S&P 500 firms to have increased
by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to IBES data from
Refinitiv.
Coty Inc COTY.N climbed 8.6% as the cosmetics maker beat
estimates for quarterly profit and revenue. But Ford Motor Co F.N slumped 7.8% after the No. 2 U.S.
automaker delivered a weaker-than-expected 2020 forecast.
Snap Inc SNAP.N dropped 9% after the owner of the popular
photo messaging app Snapchat missed estimates for quarterly
revenue. In economic news, the Institute of Supply Management's (ISM)
January data for the U.S. services sector is due at 10 a.m. ET.
Its manufacturing counterpart showed a surprise expansion in
activity last month.