US STOCKS-Futures gain as recovery optimism lingers ahead of May jobs data

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* Futures up: Dow 1.03%, S&P 0.65%, Nasdaq 0.26%

By Devik Jain
June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday
with S&P 500 futures hitting a three-month high, as investors
focused on tentative signs of a post-coronavirus economic
rebound ahead of another expected plunge in U.S. employment
data.
Friday's report from the Labor Department is likely to show
the U.S. unemployment rate shooting up to almost 20% in May, a
new post-World War Two record, but investors have so far
shrugged off dire data on hopes that an easing of
coronavirus-led lockdowns would revive business activity.
The Nasdaq 100 .NDX became the first U.S. equity index on
Thursday to reclaim its all-time high, with the rebound driven
partly by tech-related firms including Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O
and Netflix Inc NFLX.O .
The Nasdaq Composite .IXIC , which is more closely watched
than the Nasdaq 100, is just about 2% below its own record high,
while the S&P 500 .SPX and Dow Jones .DJI indexes are 8% and
11% below their respective all-time highs.
Fears of more disruptions from social unrest have also
reduced in the past two days, with the largely peaceful protests
against the killing of a black man in police custody waning into
Friday morning and emergency curfews in many cities being
lifted. At 6:11 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 270 points, or
1.03%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 20.25 points, or 0.65%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 25.5 points, or 0.26%.
Boeing Co BA.N gained 4% premarket on continued optimism
about a pickup in air travel a day after American Airlines Group
Inc AAL.O said it would boost its U.S. flight schedule next
month. Vaccine maker Novavax Inc NVAX.O jumped 14.9% after saying
it would receive up to $60 million from the U.S. Department of
Defense to fund manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
However, apparel retailer Gap Inc GPS.N fell 2.4% as it
reported a quarterly loss of nearly $1 billion due to
coronavirus-induced store closures.