US STOCKS-Wall St jumps as PayPal outlook, China data fuel recovery hopes

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* PayPal Holdings jumps on strong payments recovery forecast
* Lyft surges on revenue beat, cost cuts
* Energy cos bolstered by oil demand hopes
* Indexes jump: Dow 1.20%, S&P 1.23%, Nasdaq 1.11%

(Updates to open)
By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
May 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks jumped on Thursday as
investors were encouraged by PayPal's outlook and an unexpected
rise in Chinese exports, which raised hopes of an economic
recovery.
The payments processor PYPL.O rose 11.8%, providing the
biggest boost to the S&P 500 .SPX after it forecast a strong
recovery in payments volumes in the second quarter as social
distancing drives more people to shop online. Its shares helped the technology index rise 1.4% while
larger peer Visa Inc V.N gained 2.7%, the biggest support for
the Dow Jones Industrials .DJI .
Energy stocks rose 2.6%, the most among 11 major sectors on
optimism around future oil demand after China's overseas
shipments in April rose for the first time this year as
factories raced to make up for lost sales.
"With expectations just set so low, any positive news is
really being welcomed, and the continuing negative news, to some
extent, is being pushed to the side," said Rick Meckler a
partner at Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.
U.S. stock indexes have rebounded sharply from a
coronavirus-fueled selloff in March, powered by monetary and
fiscal stimulus and, more recently, hard-hit states reopening
businesses following sweeping lockdowns.
Wall Street's fear gauge .VIX fell back near levels it was
trading at in early March, before volatility leapt to 12-year
highs due to the worldwide spread of COVID-19. However, the S&P
500 still about 15% below its Feb. record high.
Latest data showed 3.17 million Americans applied for state
unemployment benefits last week, but the number marked the fifth
straight weekly decrease in applications and raised hopes the
worst of the outbreak's impact on the labor market was over.
The Labor Department's more comprehensive nonfarm payroll
report is due on Friday.
"We're looking into the exit from lockdown, so now's
probably not the day that markets should be worrying too much
about the economic data, they're looking forward to the
recovery," said Edward Park, deputy chief investment officer at
London-based firm Brooks Macdonald.
At 10:09 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI
was up 283.17 points, or 1.20%, at 23,947.81, the S&P 500 .SPX
was up 34.99 points, or 1.23%, at 2,883.41 and the Nasdaq
Composite .IXIC was up 98.48 points, or 1.11%, at 8,952.87.
Lyft Inc LYFT.O surged 20.1% as the ride-hailing company
posted higher-than-expected revenue and vowed to further cut
costs to become profitable. Rival Uber Technologies UBER.N ,
which is expected to report results after markets close, gained
8.8%.
Weapons maker Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N jumped 0.9%
to lead gains among Dow components, as Chief Financial Officer
Toby O'Brien said he expected positive free cash flow in 2020,
primarily driven by its defense business. About 350 of the S&P 500 companies have reported so far and
first-quarter earnings are expected to have fallen 12.4%, with
analysts expecting an earnings recession by the second quarter,
according to Refinitiv data.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners more than 4-to-1 on
the NYSE and 2-to-1 on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded seven new 52-week highs and no new
low, while the Nasdaq recorded 40 new highs and three new lows.