Wall Street stock index futures point to gains

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, reversing the previous session's losses, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq futures up 0.1-0.2 percent by 0849 GMT.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as traders booked profits from a recent rally, with the S&P 500 <.SPX> down for the second day after hitting its highest level in nearly three years on Friday.

The focus will be on economic data later in the session, including the ISM non-manufacturing index for April due at 1400 GMT and forecast to tick-up to 57.4 from 57.3 on the back of growth in its business activity index, in a confirmation of modest economic recovery.

Data from the labor market, however, was likely to point to modest slowing, with the ADP Employment report at 1215 GMT expected to show private jobs grew by 198,000 in April compared with 201,000 a month earlier.

Earnings results will continue to dominate near-term direction, with the likes of IntercontinentalExchange , Kellog and News Corp scheduled to report quarterly numbers.

News Corp's anticipated strong quarterly profit will likely to take a back seat to Rupert Murdoch's dealmaking appetite and a phone-hacking scandal at its British newspapers.

Some 74 percent of companies on the S&P 500 that have so far reported results have posted in-line or above-forecast figures, with the rest coming in below expectations, data from Thomson Reuters StarMine showed.

In company news, TV firms CBS Corp and Comcast Corp rose 1 percent and 4 percent respectively in after-hours trade after they reported earnings that beat most forecasts and set the stage for healthy price increases in the next round of ad sales.

General Electric has put its railcar leasing business up for sale, its second attempt in three years to offload a business that could be worth more than $3 billion, a source familiar with the situation said.

Chrysler , Ford and General Motors showed faster U.S. sales growth rates in April than Toyota and most other Japanese brands, in a sign that supply disruptions as a result of Japan's March 11 earthquake were hitting Japanese manufacturers hardest.

U.S. grocery operator Safeway expanded its recall on edibles containing grape tomatoes in several states, due to possible salmonella contamination.

An unsolicited takeover bid by Nasdaq OMX Group and IntercontinentalExchange for NYSE Euronext would break up NYSE Euronext and most likely cut jobs at its Paris operations, its European chief said in an interview.

In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top shares dipped in early trade, with heavyweight mining shares pressured by falling commodity prices.

(This story was corrected in seventh paragraph to say 74 percent of companies, not 74 companies)

(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Dan Lalor)