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markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

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US weekly jobless claims data higher than expected

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Arm Holdings down after tepid Q2 revenue forecast

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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) up as weight loss drug cut heart failure risk in

trial

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Moderna ( MRNA ) slumps after slashing 2024 sales forecast

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Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 500 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.49%

(Updated at 8:41 a.m. ET/1241 GMT)

By Ankika Biswas and Shubham Batra

Aug 1 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on

Thursday, boosted by the Federal Reserve's signals of a

September rate cut and a rosy sales forecast from Meta, although

a pullback in chip stocks could keep gains in check.

Meta Platforms ( META ) surged 8.7% in premarket trading

after its second-quarter revenue beat and upbeat third-quarter

sales forecast pointed to the possibility that its artificial

intelligence costs would be covered.

"It's very possible that Meta's spending a little too much

on AI, but they think AI is such an important trend, and for the

next 15 years it's going to be the place to be," said Chris

Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor

Alliance.

The Facebook-owner's quarterly results were the first among

"Magnificent Seven" companies to enthuse investors, allaying

concerns around AI spending after dismal earnings from Alphabet

and Microsoft ( MSFT ) last month.

Markets have been on tenterhooks, looking for signs that the

tech behemoths can hold on to their bumper gains after steering

Wall Street to record highs this year on AI euphoria and hopes

of early rate cuts.

Most megacap stocks rose, with Apple ( AAPL ) and

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) gaining 1% and 1.4%, respectively, ahead of

their results after markets close. Tesla was down 0.7%.

AI trade favorite Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose 2%, a day after

adding about $330 billion to its market value - a record one-day

gain for any Wall Street company.

At 8:41 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 54 points, or

0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 27 points, or 0.49%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 94.75 points, or 0.49%.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq had their best day since Feb. 22

on Wednesday, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered the stock

market a likely pivot to policy easing in September.

However, with growing prospects of rate cuts, investors are

now trying to gauge if the central bank will be able to ease

policy at a pace consistent with achieving the much awaited

"soft landing" for the economy.

Data showed weekly jobless claims rose to 249,000, higher

than the 236,000 that was expected, a sign of continued labor

market weakness ahead of Friday's Non-farm Payrolls reading.

Futures tracking the Russell 2000 were up 0.2%

after the small-cap index logged its biggest monthly gain

in July since the start of 2024, on hopes that mid- and

small-cap companies will benefit from a low-interest-rate

environment.

Moderna ( MRNA ) slumped 15.3% after cutting its 2024

sales forecast for COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus

vaccines by up to 25%.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) rose 4.1% after trial results showed

weight loss drug Zepbound reduces the risk of hospitalization,

death and other outcomes for obese adults with a common type of

heart failure.

Arm Holdings slumped 10.5% after a conservative

revenue forecast, while Qualcomm ( QCOM ) lost 1.6% on flagging

a revenue hit after the U.S. revoked one of its export licenses

for sanctioned Chinese telecom firm Huawei.

Most chip stocks retreated after Wednesday's rally, which

saw the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index log its best

one-day gain of 7% since November 2022.

Of the 283 S&P 500 companies that have reported

second-quarter earnings till date, 78.4% beat expectations, LSEG

data showed.