(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures extended their gains on Thursday after better-than-expected second-quarter GDP data eased concerns about an imminent slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3 percent in the last quarter, the Commerce Ministry said in its second estimate, beating expectations for 2.8 percent growth.
Separately, a Labor Department report showed initial jobless claims for the week ending Aug. 24 came in at 231,000, slightly below the estimate of 232,000 by economists polled by Reuters.
As of 8:33 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 289 points, or 0.7%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 81.75 points, or 0.42%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 21 points, or 0.37%.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bangalore; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
