Stock futures buoyed by optimism over economic revival

By Medha Singh

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures climbed on Wednesday, with Nasdaq futures inching closer to a record high as investors remained optimistic about an economic rebound from a coronavirus-led slump amid continuing social unrest.

Ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc rose 4.7% in premarket trading after reporting a 26% jump in rides on its platform in May from the prior month, helped by strong growth in cities where coronavirus-induced restrictions have been eased.

The S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq <.IXIC> have risen in six of the past seven sessions, as bets on a post-pandemic economic recovery helped investors look past brewing Sino-U.S. tensions and protests in the United States over the death of a black man in police custody.

Tens of thousands of people defied curfews to take to the streets of U.S. cities on Tuesday for an eighth night of protests as National Guard troops lined the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

At 6:11 a.m. ET, futures tracking the Nasdaq 100 index rose 0.4% to 9,684.25. It was about 0.5% below its Feb. 20 record high.

Dow e-minis <1YMcv1> were up 0.76% and S&P 500 e-minis gained 0.5%.

On the economic front, the ISM non-manufacturing PMI is likely to show a reading of 44.0 in May, rising from 41.8 in April. The data is expected 10 a.m. ET.

Separately, the ADP National Employment report is expected to show private payrolls dropped 9 million in May, following a record 20.236 million plunge last month. It comes ahead of the more comprehensive jobs report on Friday.

(Reporting by Medha Singh and Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)