Wall Street to open higher after ADP, ahead of Fed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set for a higher open on Wednesday after data on the labor market came in above expectations and ahead of the Federal Reserve's statement on the economy and a possible new round of stimulus.

The Federal Reserve is likely to show it is ready to act to support a weakening economy but stop short of aggressive measures for now.

The Fed statement comes a day before a key meeting of the European Central Bank, after its president, Mario Draghi, heightened speculation of further ECB purchases of Italian and Spanish bonds by saying that he would do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro."

"We have the Fed today, the ECB tomorrow and everybody is waiting on central bank policy - right now the equity markets are being held together by easy money and if we don't get more of it soon we are likely to be disappointed," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer, Harris Private Bank in Chicago.

"We are going to need a monetary booster shot both from Europe and the U.S. to keep this party going."

The S&P 500 posted its biggest two-day percentage gain to close out last week on increased expectations both the Fed and the European Central Bank will plan further actions to stimulate their respective economies at the meetings this week, but the index has stalled the last two sessions as it reached levels not seen since early May.

Data from payrolls processor Automatic Data Processing showed private employers added 163,000 jobs in July, topping economists' expectations for 120,000 new jobs. Investors may use the report to glean clues on the health of the labor market ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report.

At 10 a.m., the Commerce Department releases June construction spending and the Institute for Supply Management releases its July manufacturing index. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast construction spending to rise 0.4 percent and a 50.2 ISM reading.

China's official factory purchasing managers' index edged down to an eight-month low of 50.1 in July from 50.2 in June, suggesting the sector is barely growing, while a rival HSBC survey indicated the more market-sensitive private sector is starting to recover.

S&P 500 futures rose 4.6 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 41 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 14.25 points.

Equities closed out the month of July with the Dow up 1 percent, the S&P 500 up 1.3 percent and the Nasdaq adding 0.2 percent. After seven months, the S&P 500 has gained nearly 10 percent for the year, despite a slowing world economy.

Mastercard shares dipped 3 percent to $423.30 in premarket trade after the world's second-largest credit and debit card processing network's quarterly revenue missed Wall Street estimates as worldwide purchase volume growth slowed to its lowest level in five quarters.

Harley-Davidson Inc reported a better-than-expected 29.7 percent rise in quarterly profit, as its success in attracting young motorcycle buyers helped push sales higher. Shares were unchanged at $43.23 in premarket.

Phillips 66 climbed 5.1 percent to $39.50 in premarket after the largest U.S. independent refining company, posted a 14 percent jump in quarterly profit on stronger refining margins and chemical sales.

Other major companies announcing results include Metlife , Prudential Financial Inc and Tesoro Corp .

According to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning, of the 321 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported second-quarter earnings to date, 67.3 percent have reported earnings above analysts' expectations. Over the past four quarters, the average beat rate is 68 percent.

(Editing by James Dalgleish, Dave Zimmerman)