US STOCKS-Futures edge higher ahead of jobless claims data

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* Futures up: Dow 0.07%, S&P 0.12%, Nasdaq 0.38%

By Devik Jain and Shreyashi Sanyal
Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on
Thursday as investors looked to corporate earnings and economic
data that is expected to show a decline in weekly jobless
claims.
The Labor Department's report, due at 0830 a.m ET (1330
GMT), is expected to show the number of Americans filing new
applications for jobless benefits decreased to 830,000 last
week, as authorities started to loosen pandemic-related
restrictions on businesses.
A report on Wednesday showed U.S. private payrolls rebounded
more than expected in January, suggesting the labor market's
recovery was back on track. The government's closely watched and
comprehensive monthly employment report is due on Friday.
The Dow Jones .DJI and S&P 500 .SPX indexes closed
slightly higher on Wednesday, with Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O
shares hitting a record high following strong quarterly results.
All the three major indexes have bounced back sharply this
week as investors monitored talks over the next round of fiscal
stimulus and as a recent buying frenzy driven by social media
appeared to stall following a bout of market volatility last
week.
Democrats pushed ahead on Wednesday with a maneuver to pass
President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package
without Republican support, as the White House said it was
flexible on a key element of the plan. Videogame retailer GameStop Corp GME.N rose 3.9%, while
cinema operator AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC.N added
2.6% in premarket trading ahead of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet
Yellen's meeting with financial regulators later in the day to
discuss the recent market volatility. Concerns over heightened stock market valuations, raging
pandemic and new coronavirus variants have kept investors on
edge with attention turning towards earnings outlook from
corporate America to justify it.
U.S. companies are on track to post earnings growth for the
fourth quarter of 2020, data from Refinitiv showed on Wednesday,
which would defy expectations for profits to drop 10% due to the
pandemic. At 6:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 20 points, or
0.07%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 4.5 points, or 0.12%, and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 51.5 points, or 0.38%.
A pandemic-driven surge in online shopping during the
holidays helped e-commerce firm eBay Inc EBAY.O and payment
platform PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O top quarterly earnings
estimates. EBay shares jumped 10.3%, while PayPal gained 5.1%.