US STOCKS-Futures gain as more states prepare to ease lockdown

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* Boeing gains on scrapping Embraer deal
* Apple pares early gains on report of production delay
* BOJ pledges unlimited bond buying
* Futures gain: Dow 0.93%, S&P 500 0.92%, Nasdaq 1.25%

(Adds comments, updates prices throughout)
By C Nivedita
April 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday
as more states looked set to lift coronavirus-induced curbs, and
investors awaited earnings reports from marquee companies
including Apple and Microsoft due this week.
A late session rally for tech majors had helped Wall Street
end higher on Friday, with sentiment also getting a boost as
Georgia became the first state to ease restrictions despite
disapproval from President Donald Trump and health experts.
Although trillions of dollars in stimulus have helped the
S&P 500 recover nearly 30% from March lows, with the economic
damage only growing, analysts say more gains may be limited
unless there is progress on treatments for the disease.
White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told reporters on
Sunday the U.S. jobless rate would likely hit 16% or more in
April. Against that, many more U.S. states were looking to
reopen businesses. Boeing Co BA.N gained 1.6% in premarket trading after it
pulled out of a $4.2 billion deal to buy Brazil planemaker
Embraer's EMBR3.SA commercial jets division over the weekend.
"It's very promising what we are now seeing ... including
the fact that states in the U.S and countries across Europe are
starting to at least plan for the lifting of restrictions," said
Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA in London.
With the Bank of Japan weighing in with more stimulus on
Monday, focus this week will be on the Federal Reserve's meeting
ending on Wednesday, although expectations are low for more
easing by the U.S. central bank.
At 7:58 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 219 points, or
0.93%, S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 26 points, or 0.92% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 109.25 points, or 1.25%.
About 173 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to report
quarterly earnings this week, including Apple AAPL.O ,
Amazon.com AMZN.O , Microsoft MSFT.O , Boeing BA.N , Ford
F.N , General Electric GE.N and Chevron CVX.N .
Overall, analysts expect a decline of nearly 15% in
first-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies, with profits for
the energy sector estimated to have slumped 68%.
Apple gave up some early gains after a report said the
company was delaying the production ramp-up of its flagship
iPhones coming later this year by about a month. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc REGN.O slipped 0.2% after
the U.S. drugmaker and France's Sanofi SA SASY.PA said they
would continue a late-stage trial of their arthritis drug,
Kevzara, in only COVID-19 patients who are critical, and
discontinued the trial for those in the "severe" group.