US STOCKS-Wall St set to jump as China data fuels recovery hopes

(For a live blog on the U.S. stock market, click LIVE/ or
type LIVE/ in a news window)
* PayPal Holdings jumps on strong payments recovery forecast
* Lyft surges on revenue beat, cost cuts
* Exxon, Chevron up on future oil demand hopes
* Futures up: Dow 1.34%, S&P 1.50%, Nasdaq 1.50%

(Adds details, quote; Updates prices)
By C Nivedita and Medha Singh
May 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open sharply higher on Thursday after a surprise rise in Chinese
exports and a surge in oil prices spurred hopes of an economic
recovery, taking the sting off another gloomy weekly jobless
claims report.
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N rose more
than 2% in premarket trading 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. Weapons maker Raytheon Technologies Corp RTX.N jumped 4.7%
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. "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.
However, with the S&P 500 now about 16% below its record
high, analysts have warned of another selloff with data
revealing the extent of the pandemic's economic damage and
U.S.-China tensions resurfacing over the origin of the novel
coronavirus.
Latest data showed 3.1 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 weekly claims report followed news on Wednesday that
private payrolls fell by a record 20.2 million in April, which
set up the overall labor market for historic job losses. The
Labor Department's more comprehensive nonfarm payroll report is
due on Friday.
"The stock market currently is not a true representation of
the economy's weakened status," said Hussein Sayed, chief market
strategist at FXTM.
"Investors are betting on a best-case economic recovery
scenario supported by further easing measures. But predicting
how asset prices play out during this pandemic is more of a
guessing game than any form of true analysis."
At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 316 points, or
1.34%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 42.5 points, or 1.5% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 134.5 points, or 1.5%.
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.
PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL.O jumped 9.7% after the payments
processor said it expected a strong recovery in payments volumes
in the second quarter as social distancing drives more people to
shop online. Lyft Inc LYFT.O surged 15.2% as the ride-hailing company
posted higher-than-expected revenue and vowed to further cut
costs to become profitable. Rival Uber Technologies UBER.N
gained 7.8%.