Stock futures signal higher open

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 rising 0.3 to 0.5 percent.

The Federal Reserve is likely later in the session to show that it is ready to act against a weakening U.S. economy, but stop short of aggressive measures for now.

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) releases its employment report at 1215 GMT (8:00 am EDT). Economists expect 120,000 jobs were created in July, down from 176,000 in the previous month.

MasterCard , the world's second-largest credit and debit card processing network, is expected to post a higher second quarter profit as more people across the globe use cards instead of cash. Other major companies announcing results include Metlife , Time Warner and Harley-Davidson .

U.S. final Markit Manufacturing PMI for July is due at 1258 GMT. Economists predict a reading of 52.0, compared with 51.8 in the flash July report. The European equivalent showed factories contracting for the 11th straight month while China's official data showed the sector barely growing.

Digital River Inc was down 11.2 percent after the bell after the E-commerce services provider reported quarterly revenue below analysts' expectations, citing weak PC sales, and cut its full-year outlook.

The Mortgage Bankers Association releases its mortgage market index for the week ended July 27 at 1100. The mortgage index read 943.6 and the refinancing index was 5,411.6 in the previous week.

Allstate Corp shares were up 3.9 percent in late trading on Tuesday after the home and auto insurer swung to a profit in the second quarter, smashing recently lowered Wall Street expectations.

The Institute for Supply Management releases its July manufacturing index at 1400 GMT. Economists expect a reading of 50.2, versus 49.7 in June.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd told jurors that its products are not copycats of Apple Inc's iPhone but rather an example of legitimate American-style competition from the South Korean company. European stocks <.fteu3> rose 0.4 percent, bolstered by a string of strong corporate results, with dealers awaiting the Fed and a European Central Bank meeting which some expect to result in fresh stimulus to support a flagging euro zone.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 64.33 points, or 0.49 percent, to 13,008.68 at the close on Tuesday. The S&P 500 Index <.spx> dropped 5.98 points, or 0.43 percent, to 1,379.32. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> lost 6.32 points, or 0.21 percent, to 2,939.52.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; editing by Patrick Graham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-dips-traders-gear-fed-ends-july-020949152--finance.html

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