Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures turned

sharply higher on Thursday as a lower-than-expected reading of

weekly jobless claims allayed fears of a recession in the

world's biggest economy.

A Labor Department report showed the number of Americans

filing new applications for unemployment benefits came in at

233,000 for the week ended Aug. 3, compared with an estimate of

240,000 as per economists polled by Reuters.

At 08:31 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 135 points, or

0.35%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 31.75 points, or 0.61%

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 144 points, or 0.8%.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru)