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Futures up: Dow 0.34%, S&P 0.58%, Nasdaq 0.81%

May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures advanced on

Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve left interest rates

unchanged and allayed fears around potential rate hikes, with

focus moving to a spate of earnings updates through the day.

While Fed chair Jerome Powell indicated that stubbornly high

inflation would see a long-expected U.S. rate cut pushed back,

he refused to entertain talk that rates might actually need to

go up again.

Money markets see a 58% chance of the first rate cut of at

least 25 basis points (bps) being delivered in September, but

have priced in a greater 69% chance of a cut in November,

according to CME FedWatch tool.

"The Fed's official statement did acknowledge a 'lack of

further progress' in inflation reduction in recent months,"

Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar, said.

"But Powell expressed the strong belief that current

monetary policy is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation

to the Fed's 2% target eventually ... therefore it's unlikely

the next policy move will be a hike."

U.S. stocks initially rose, but ended mixed on Wednesday

after the Fed decision.

Focus now moves to the key nonfarm payrolls data on Friday

for a clearer outlook on the labor market and the interest rate

path. Investors, on Thursday, will also keep an eye out for

weekly jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET and March factory

orders data at 10 a.m. ET.

Earnings reports from Moderna ( MRNA ), Peloton and

Cardinal Health ( CAH ), among others, are scheduled before the

opening bell.

Of the 310 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported

earnings as of Wednesday, 77.4% have surpassed earnings

estimates, compared with the historical average of 67%,

according to LSEG data.

At 05:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 131 points,

or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 29.25 points, or

0.58%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 141.75 points, or

0.81%.

Among early movers, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) gained 4.7% in

premarket trading after the smartphone chips supplier forecast

quarterly sales and adjusted profit above Wall Street

expectations.

E-commerce firm eBay ( EBAY ) slipped 3.6% as it forecast

second-quarter revenue below estimates on cooling demand.