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

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

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Futures up: Dow 0.63%, S&P 500 1.07%, Nasdaq 1.62%

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General Motors ( GM ) gains after offering new forecast

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McDonald's slips after surprise drop in Q1 sales

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Weekly jobless claims higher than forecast

(Updates with weekly claims data, earnings)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

May 1 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a

higher open on Thursday, powered by Magnificent Seven

heavyweights Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Meta, as their strong quarterly

results pointed to a resilient outlook for the technology

sector.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) surged 8.5% in premarket trading after it

forecast stronger-than-expected quarterly growth for its

cloud-computing business Azure. Meta Platforms ( META ) gained

6.5% after posting higher-than-expected revenue on the back of a

strong advertising performance.

"Their (Meta and Microsoft ( MSFT )) outlooks weren't as bleak as

some of the tech companies that we've heard from of late ...

momentum coming into the day after a late-day rally yesterday

combined with better news on two of the Mag Seven names, (and)

you've got the potential set-up for a pretty good start to a new

month," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley

Wealth.

The strong results helped calm jitters over an increasingly

uncertain outlook for businesses and the economy due to sweeping

and often erratic shifts in the U.S. tariff policy and an

escalating trade war with China.

Many companies have trimmed or even pulled their forecasts,

and data on Wednesday showed the U.S. economy contracted for the

first time in three years in the last quarter.

Despite signs of a weakening economy, Federal Reserve

policymakers have signaled that short-term interest rates will

remain unchanged barring clear data showing slowing inflation or

a deteriorating labor market.

Thursday's weekly jobless claims, coming ahead of

Friday's nonfarm payrolls data, suggested a rise in layoffs.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits jumped to a

seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ended April 26, the

Labor Department said, above the 224,000 forecast by economists

polled by Reuters.

"It's hard to hide from the number of jobs - either

jobless claims or number of jobs being created - so this may

well be the week where some of the hard data starts to catch up

with some of the soft data," Hogan said.

At 08:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 257 points,

or 0.63%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 59.75 points, or

1.07%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 317.75 points, or

1.62%.

Results from megacaps Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL )

, due after markets close, will be closely watched for

further clues on how the more consumer-oriented tech companies

are weathering tariff uncertainty.

Apple ( AAPL ) shares slipped 1.4% after a federal judge ruled the

iPhone maker had violated a U.S. court order to reform its App

Store. Amazon ( AMZN ) shares were up 3.3%.

Other technology megacaps also rose, with Nvidia ( NVDA ) up

4.7%.

Among other earnings, Eli Lilly ( LLY ) lost 5% after its

quarterly results, while McDonald's dipped 1.6% after

posting a surprise drop in first-quarter global sales.

Mobile chip designer Qualcomm ( QCOM ) was one of the latest

firms to forecast a hit to revenue from the trade war. Its

shares fell 5.8%, while CVS Health ( CVS ) surged 9.1% after its

results.

General Motors ( GM ) gained 3.8% after offering a new 2025

forecast for core profit following some clarity on automotive

tariffs. It had pulled its previous forecast earlier this week.

ISM manufacturing PMIs and construction spending data are

due after markets open.