Futures jump with focus on earnings, easing lockdowns

By C Nivedita

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures climbed higher on Tuesday ahead of the next round of quarterly earnings reports, with investors also keenly looking at the safety of reopening economies hit hard by the coronavirus-induced shutdowns.

Wall Street kicked off the week on a strong note Monday as several U.S. states allowed businesses to reopen after a near total halt in activity to contain the outbreak.

Powered by a raft of U.S. monetary and fiscal stimulus, all three major stock indexes are now within 20% of their record closing highs, but analysts warn of further losses as economic data foreshadows a deep global recession.

Consumer confidence figures for April due later in the day are expected to slide further from near three-year lows hit in March, as widespread production halts put millions of Americans out of work.

Investors are also waiting for a two-day Federal Reserve policy meeting that kicks off on Tuesday, although expectations are low for more central bank easing at this time.

Southwest Airlines jump-started first-quarter reports for the day with its first quarterly loss in nine years, but shares rose 3.4% as it said its average daily cash burn will slow in the second quarter.

Drugmakers Merck & Co and Pfizer Inc and industrial conglomerate 3M Co are also scheduled to report results before the bell, while Google parent Alphabet Inc , Ford Motor Co and Starbucks Corp are among the high profile companies reporting after markets close.

At 05:41 a.m. EDT, Dow e-minis were up 283 points, or 1.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 30 points, or 1.05% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 98.25 points, or 1.11%.

SPDR S&P 500 ETFs rose 1.07%.

The S&P 500 index <.spx> closed up 1.47% at 2,878.48 on Monday.

(Reporting by C Nivedita in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)