U.S. stock futures higher as oil prices gain

[May 05, 2016]  By Tanya Agrawal

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were higher on Thursday, after three straight days of losses, as oil prices rose for the first time this week and ahead of the monthly jobs data on Friday.

* Oil prices jumped over 2 percent as a huge wildfire near Canada's oil sands region and escalating tensions in Libya stoked concerns among investors of a near-term supply shortage. [O/R]

* U.S. stocks finished lower on Wednesday, weighed down by tepid data on private sector jobs and a retreat in biotech shares.

* Investors are awaiting the monthly jobs data, which is expected to show that nonfarm payrolls likely rose by 202,000 in April after rising 215,000 in March. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold at 5 percent.

* A strengthening labor market is expected to influence the pace of future rate hikes, although traders are pricing in only one hike later this year.

* An accommodative Federal Reserve and a recovery in oil prices have helped U.S. stocks rally from sharp losses at the start of the year. However, the rally lost momentum in the past two weeks due to underwhelming quarterly earnings and mixed economic data.

* Data on Thursday is expected to show that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits probably rose by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 260,000 for the week ended April 30. The report is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET.

* A number of Federal Reserve heads, including James Bullard of the St. Louis Fed and John Williams of the San Francisco Fed, will present their views on the monetary policy at a central banking conference held at Stanford University later in the day.

* Shares of Tesla Motors  were up 4.2 percent at $231.96 in premarket trading after the company's first-quarter results broadly beat Wall Street targets.

* Fitbit fell 12.3 percent to $15 after the wearable fitness device maker's profit forecast for the current quarter fell far short of analysts' estimates.

* Alibaba was up 4.5 percent at $79.25 as China's biggest e-commerce company said fourth-quarter revenue rose 39 percent.

Futures snapshot at 7:09 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 7 points, or 0.34 percent, with 153,810 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 15 points, or 0.35 percent, on volume of 21,951 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 55 points, or 0.31 percent, with 21,997 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal)

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