S&P 500 futures top 3,000 points on recovery hopes

US stock futures rose 2 per cent and breached a major chart barrier on Tuesday as global easing of lockdowns and business restarts boosted optimism about economic recovery among investors returning from a long weekend.

Spain urged foreign holidaymakers to return from July as it eases one of Europe's strictest curbs, while Britain was looking to reopen thousands of High Street shops, department stores and shopping centers next month.

The beaten down travel-related stocks gained in premarket trading with United Airlines Holdings Inc, online travel agency Expedia Group Inc, hotel operator Marriott International Inc all up about 8 per cent each.


Wall Street's main indexes ended mixed on Friday as China-US tensions heated up, but still managed to log more than 3 per cent gains for the week, fueled by hopes of an eventual coronavirus vaccine and easing of virus-related curbs.

At 6:08 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.85 per cent at 3,007.5. The futures contract broke through 2,988.38, a 200-day simple moving average, suggesting a strong day ahead for US stocks.

Dow e-minis were up 494 points, or 2.02 per cent and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 170.25 points, or 1.81 per cent.

Later in the day, the Conference Board's data is expected to show consumer confidence index edged up slightly after hitting a six year low in April.