(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

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

*

Futures up: Dow 0.13%, S&P 0.67%, Nasdaq 0.92%

April 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures advanced

on Friday as megacap growth shares rebounded on the back of

robust quarterly results from Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT ), while

investors awaited a key inflation print that could help shape

U.S. monetary policy.

Alphabet jumped 11.5% in premarket trading after

the Google-parent announced its first-ever dividend, a $70

billion stock buyback and beat estimates for first-quarter

results.

The share surge could lead the search giant's market value

to top $2 trillion if premarket gains hold.

Lifting sentiment further, Microsoft ( MSFT ) gained 4% on

beating Wall Street estimates for third-quarter revenue and

profit, driven by gains from AI adoption across its cloud

services.

Other growth stocks also rose on the results, with

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Nvidia ( NVDA ) up 3.1% and 1.3%,

respectively. Meta Platforms ( META ) added 1.2%, recovering

from a near 11% drop in the previous session, its steepest fall

in 18 months.

On the docket for the day, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ), AbbVie ( ABBV )

and Colgate-Palmolive ( CL ) among others are slated to

report their quarterly numbers before the opening bell.

With the earnings season in full swing, adjusted blended

earnings for the first quarter are estimated to grow by 7.4% on

a year-on-year basis, according to LSEG data.

The upbeat earnings in the week have propped up Wall

Street's main stock indexes for weekly gains, with the benchmark

S&P 500 looking to snap three weeks of losses while the

Nasdaq is set to snap four straight weeks of losses.

U.S. stocks had ended lower on Thursday as markets were

stunned by data showing slower-than-expected U.S. economic

growth and persistent inflation, coupled with a sell-off in

large-cap stocks triggered by disappointing results from Meta

Platforms ( META ).

Focus now shifts to the Personal Consumption Expenditures

(PCE) index reading for March, the Federal Reserve's preferred

inflation gauge, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, to further ascertain the

state of inflation and the timing of interest rate cuts.

The index is estimated to show a 2.6% rise in March on a

year-on-year basis, as per economists polled by Reuters,

compared with a 2.5% rise in February.

Money markets are pricing in just about 35 basis points

(bps) of rate cuts from the central bank this year, down from

nearly 150 bps seen at the beginning of the year, as per LSEG

data.

At 5:40 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 49 points, or

0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.67%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 161 points, or 0.92%.

Among other stocks, Snap surged 23.7% premarket

after the social media firm beat first-quarter estimates for

quarterly revenue and user growth, as improvements to its

advertising system delivered results faster than anticipated.

Shares of Pinterest ( PINS ) also rose 4.3%.

Intel ( INTC ) dropped 7.2% on forecasting second-quarter

revenue and profit below estimates as it faces weak demand for

its traditional data center and PC chips and trails in the

surging market for AI components.