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

(Reuters) – U.S. stock futures rose 2{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} 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 (UAL.O), online travel agency Expedia Group Inc (EXPE.O), hotel operator Marriott International Inc (MAR.O) all up about 8{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} each.

Wall Street’s main indexes ended mixed on Friday as China-U.S. tensions heated up, but still managed to log more than 3{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} 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 EScv1 were up 1.85{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} at 3,007.5. The futures contract broke through 2,988.38, a 200-day simple moving average, suggesting a strong day ahead for U.S. stocks.

Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 494 points, or 2.02{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 170.25 points, or 1.81{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f}.

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.