US STOCKS-Futures climb on vaccine hopes, Goldman's huge profit beat

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* Travel-related stocks jump on hopes of vaccine
* UnitedHealth up as profit more than doubles
* Futures up: Dow 2.10%, S&P 1.41%, Nasdaq 0.50%

(Add quote, details; updates prices)
By Medha Singh and Devik Jain
July 15 (Reuters) - Futures linked to the S&P 500 and the
Dow indexes hit near five-month highs on Wednesday as signs of
progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine and a much
better-than-expected quarterly profit for Goldman Sachs
brightened the mood.
The U.S. lender GS.N jumped 4.6% before the bell as its
trading revenue doubled in the second quarter, driven by big
swings in stock and bond markets since March. Morgan Stanley MS.N gained 2.8% and Bank of America
BAC.N rose 2.8% ahead of their results on Thursday which would
wrap up earnings from the big six U.S. banks.
The three main U.S. stock indexes have recouped most of
their losses from the coronavirus-led slump, with a raft of
stimulus measures and encouraging economic data lifting the S&P
500 to within 6% of its record high in February.
With the second-quarter earnings season now underway,
investors are looking for annual forecasts from marquee
companies to gauge the pace of the rebound in Corporate America.
"Better-than-expected earnings help the mood because we're
in an environment where expectations have gotten very low," said
Stephen Lee, portfolio manager at Logan Capital Management in
Newtown Square, Pennsylvania.
"We're not surprised to see volatility on a day to day basis
as investors balance between better-than-expected proven
recovery, waiting to see earnings results, and then how
successfully this healthcare challenge is going to be managed."
The largest U.S. health insurer, UnitedHealth Group Inc
UNH.N , rose 0.2% in choppy trading as its second-quarter
profit more than doubled.
Moderna Inc MRNA.O surged 16% after a small-scale study
showed its experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced high levels of
virus-killing antibodies, bolstering hopes the shot could prove
effective in later stages of testing. Travel-related stocks American Airlines DAL.N , United
Airlines Holdings UAL.O , Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal
Caribbean Cruises Ltd RCL.N , Marriott International MAR.O
and Wynn Resorts WYNN.O rose between 5.2% and 8.7%.
Wall Street futures and Asian equity markets had pared some
gains earlier in the day after U.S. President Donald Trump
ordered an end to Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law,
prompting Beijing to warn of retaliatory sanctions. At 8:08 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 556 points, or
2.1%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 45 points, or 1.41% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 53.5 points, or 0.5%.
Apple AAPL.O rose 1.2% after Europe's second-top court
rejected an EU order to the iPhone maker to pay 13 billion euros
($14.78 billion) in Irish back taxes.