* GDP for Q1 at 4.3% growth vs previous 4.1% growth
* Best Buy rises after raising comp sales forecast
* Boeing climbs after rival Aribus’ strong forecast
* Futures: Dow up 0.37%, S&P flat, Nasdaq slips 0.41% (Adds comment, details; updates prices)
May 27 (Reuters) - The Dow was set to open slightly higher on Thursday after data showing fewer weekly jobless claims pointed to an improving outlook for the U.S. economy.
The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits stayed below 500,000 for a third straight week, the Labor Department’s report showed. A separate report confirmed that the U.S. economy accelerated at its fastest pace in nearly four decades in the first quarter.
“We expect to see continuing trends of lower jobless claims and have a keen eye on the (personal consumption expenditures) data today and tomorrow that could show further growth in consumption, aiding prospects of a faster economic recovery,” said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager, Dakota Wealth, New York.
But unless economic data “really shocks on the upside, we might not see too much change in market going into the long weekend,” Pavlik added.
Worries about rising inflation and a potential tightening of policy have weighed on Wall Street’s main indexes in May, with the benchmark S&P 500 on course for its smallest monthly gain in four.
Those concerns, however, eased this week as a number of Fed officials said the central bank would maintain its dovish stance, even as they acknowledged they were closer to debating reining in support.
Investors will now look out for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) report due on Friday as it is the central bank’s preferred inflation measure for its 2% long-term target.
At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 126 points, or 0.37%, while S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.25 points, or 0.01%.
Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 56 points, or 0.41%, as heavyweights Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Tesla Inc slipped between 0.2% and 0.7%.
Strategists expect the S&P 500 to end the year at about 4,300, according to a Reuters poll. The benchmark index is currently less than 1% away from its record high of 4,238.04 points.
Nvidia Corp forecast second-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates, but shares fell 0.1% as the company could not say for certain how much of its recent revenue rise was driven by the volatile cryptocurrency-mining market.
Best Buy Co gained 1.8% after it raised its full-year comparable sales forecast as stimulus checks boosted demand. Discount retailer dropped 1.6% after its quarterly sales miss overshadowed a bump to full-year profit outlook.
U.S. planemaker Boeing added about 3% after its European rival Airbus outlined an almost two-fold increase in production, citing a strong recovery in aviation from the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
Source: Reuters