US STOCKS-Apple, Facebook drive Nasdaq futures higher as earnings roll in

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* Futures up: Dow 0.52%, S&P 0.72%, Nasdaq 1.00%

By Shivani Kumaresan
April 29 (Reuters) - Nasdaq futures jumped 1% on Thursday
after stellar earnings from Apple and Facebook powered a rally
in tech stocks, while investors parsed another barrage of
quarterly reports ahead of GDP numbers and jobless claims data.
Apple Inc AAPL.O gained 2.7% in premarket trading after
posting sales and profits ahead of Wall Street estimates, led by
much stronger-than-expected iPhone and Mac sales. Facebook Inc FB.O jumped 7.3% on beating analysts'
expectations for both quarterly revenue and profit, helped by a
surge in digital ad spending during the pandemic, along with
higher ad prices. Other megacap companies, including Microsoft Corp MSFT.O ,
Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O and Netflix Inc NFLX.O , rose between
0.2% and 1.1%.
Official data is likely to show that the number of Americans
filing new claims for jobless benefits rose last week, while the
Commerce Department is expected to report a 6.1% rise in
first-quarter GDP.
More earnings reports from Dow components rolled in, with
Caterpillar Inc CAT.N rising 2.8% after the heavy equipment
maker reported a rise in adjusted first-quarter profit.
Drugmaker Merck & Co Inc MRK.N , however, slid 3.2% on posting
a 1.2% fall in quarterly profit. Global shares extended gains after the Federal Reserve said
it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for
the economy, and U.S. President Joe Biden proposed a $1.8
trillion stimulus package. At the conclusion of the U.S. central bank's latest policy
meeting on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the
economy's growth, but said there was not yet enough evidence of
"substantial further progress" toward recovery to warrant a
change in policy. At 6:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 177 points, or
0.52%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 30.25 points, or 0.72%,
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 138.75 points, or 1%.
Shares of electric vehicles companies, including Tesla Inc
TSLA.O , Nikola Corp NKLA.O , rose 1.1% and 2.6%,
respectively, as sales picked up speed in the first quarter,
according to the International Energy Agency. Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O , Twitter Inc TWTR.K , Mastercard
Inc MA.N and Gilead Sciences Inc GILD.O are also expected to
report first-quarter earnings later in the day.