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 * Stocks soared on Wednesday after New York Fed President William
Dudley said the case for a September rate hike seemed "less
compelling" than before.
* Chinese stocks also rebounded sharply, snapping a brutal five-day
losing streak. The blue-chip CSI300 index jumped 6 percent, while
the Shanghai Composite Index gained 5.4 percent.
* Dudley's dovish comments came a day before many of the world's top
central bankers gather at an annual conference in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. Investors will keep an eye on the meeting for any clues on
the timing of a U.S. interest rate hike.
* The U.S. market fell in the past week on concerns that a slowdown
in China's economy would affect global growth. The rout followed a
steep plunge in Chinese stocks markets.
* Up to Wednesday's close, the Dow had lost 7.1 percent in the past
seven trading days, the Nasdaq 7.2 percent and the S&P 7.4 percent.
* Investors will also keep a sharp eye on key data scheduled to be
released later in the day. U.S. economic growth is expected to have
accelerated in the second quarter, with
preliminary gross domestic product growth expected to be 3.2 percent
on an annualized basis. The data is expected at 8:30 a.m. ET.
* Other data is expected to show the number of Americans filing new
applications for unemployment benefits last week is expected to fall
by 3,000 to a seasonally adjusted 274,000.
* The Fed has said it will raise rates only when it sees a sustained
recovery in the economy. While the labor markets have continued to
gain strength, inflation remains below the Fed's 2 percent target.
All eyes will be on the Fed's meeting on 16th-17th September for
further clues regarding a rate hike.
* Oil prices jumped more than 4 percent after a rally in stock
markets and an unexpected fall in U.S. crude inventories.
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* Shares in Apple, which had taken a beating in recent weeks because
of concern about demand for iPhones in China, were up 2.3 percent to
$112.21 in premarket trading.
* St Jude Medical jumped 9.2 percent to $75.75 after the Financial
Times reported that Abbott Laboratories had lined up a $25
billion bid for the company. Abbott was unchanged at $43.98.
* Tesla was up 1.9 percent to $229.26 after its Model S P85D
received the highest possible score in test by an influential
consumer magazine.
Futures snapshot at 7:03 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 18.5 points, or 0.95 percent, with 273,580
contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 51 points, or 1.21 percent, on
volume of 44,779 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were up 169 points, or 1.04 percent, with 33,689
contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)
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