US STOCKS-Futures rise on bounce in China factory activity; U.S. jobs report awaited

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* Futures up: Dow 0.18%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.25%

By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures gained on Friday
as a surprise rise in China's manufacturing activity boosted
sentiment, while investors awaited a crucial U.S. jobs report.
Factory activity in the world's second-largest economy
expanded at the fastest pace in more than two years in October,
a private business survey showed. Meanwhile, the U.S. Labor Department's non-farm payrolls
data is likely to show jobs growth slowed sharply last month,
weighed down by a strike at General Motors GM.N , while the
unemployment rate is expected to tick up from near a 50-year low
of 3.5%. The report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Also of interest to investors would be the Institute for
Supply Management's (ISM) manufacturing report due at 10 a.m.
ET, which is expected to show the PMI index rose to 48.9 in
October from a 10-year low of 47.8 a month earlier.
The news comes amid mixed headlines on the trade war between
Washington and Beijing.
All three main U.S. stock indexes notched gains in October
on the back of a largely better-than-expected third-quarter
earnings season, hopes of interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal
Reserve and upbeat U.S.-China trade rhetoric.
However, after scaling record highs earlier in the week, the
benchmark S&P 500 edged lower on Thursday as a report said
Chinese officials had doubts about a comprehensive long-term
trade deal with Washington.
At 7:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 49 points, or
0.18%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 6 points, or 0.2% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 20 points, or 0.25%.
Among stocks, Qorvo Inc QRVO.O jumped 10.2% after the
Apple supplier announced a $1 billion share buyback plan and
forecast third-quarter revenue above expectations. Pinterest Inc PINS.N tumbled 20.6% as the online scrapbook
company missed quarterly revenue estimates. Arista Networks ANET.N slumped 27% after the cloud
infrastructure supplier forecast current-quarter revenue much
below Wall Street expectations.
U.S. Steel Corp X.N gained 3.7% after it reported
smaller-than-expected third-quarter loss.