US STOCKS-Futures lifted by robust China factory data

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* Pfizer-BioNTech seek EU emergency approval for COVID-19
vaccine
* China's Nov factory activity growth hits decade high
* Futures: Dow and S&P rise 1.1%, Nasdaq up 0.9%

By Shriya Ramakrishnan and Medha Singh
Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose about 1% on
Tuesday as better-than-expected manufacturing data from China
and hopes that major drugmakers will roll out vaccines before
the end of the year increased bets of a quick recovery from the
COVID-19 crisis.
Investors are closely following updates on the handful of
leading vaccines as well as the start of global shipments as
drugmakers submit paperwork for regulatory approvals.
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc PFE.N gained about 3% in premarket
trade as the drugmaker and Germany's BioNTech SE BNTX.O sought
emergency approval of their vaccine from the European regulator.
The partners are now neck-and-neck with rival Moderna
MRNA.O , which said on Monday it would ask the EU regulator to
recommend conditional approval for its shot.
Cruise operators Carnival Corp CCL.N , Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd RCL.N and carriers Delta Air Lines Inc DAL.N and
United Airlines Holdings UAL.O rose between 2% and 5%.
Big U.S. banks, which are sensitive to the economic outlook,
gained between 1.4% and 2.1%.
Wall Street's main indexes ended lower on Monday on profit
taking at the end of the Dow's best month in more than three
decades as breakthroughs in vaccine development spurred a shift
towards sectors hardest-hit by virus induced shutdowns.
At 06:56 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis 1YMcv1 were up 1.13%, S&P
500 E-minis EScv1 were up 1.08% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1
were up 0.92%.
China's factory sector activity grew at its fastest pace in
a decade in November, a business survey showed. Several other
countries also reported sharp upticks in industrial activity.
Later in the day, markets will focus on U.S. manufacturing
data for November as well as remarks from Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at a
congressional hearing.
Powell on Monday said that while the news on the vaccine
front is very positive, its impact on the economy will be
unclear until challenges such as vaccine production and mass
distribution are resolved. Among other stocks, Zoom Video Communications Inc ZM.O
dropped about 8% after the company warned its gross margins
would remain under pressure going into 2021. Tesla Inc TSLA.O rose about 5% after S&P Dow Jones Indices
said it would add one of Wall Street's most valuable companies
to the S&P 500 index all at once on Dec. 21.