Stock futures edge higher; euro bailout fund eyed

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors looking for an earnings season rally maintained interest in the market after a sharp fall the previous session, but concerns over Europe's debt crisis capped gains.

* Wall Street has been susceptible to wild swings on headlines coming out of Europe. On Thursday investors took some heart in a report the euro zone's bailout facility will be able to buy bonds on the secondary market.

* "If we can get through this European thing I think the market wants to move higher based on the economic and earnings news but it just needs to get this fear out of the way," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

* Investors are closely watching the developing U.S. earnings season which has produced mixed results so far. Many are hoping a strong performance will power equities into the end of the year. Microsoft and AT&T are among companies reporting results on Thursday.

* S&P 500 futures rose 5.5 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 added 55 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 10.25 points.

* Late on Wednesday, American Express Co's third-quarter earnings beat expectations, while eBay gave a cautious outlook for the rest of the year as third-quarter revenue came in line with Wall Street expectations.

* Yahoo Inc advisers informed some potential buyers of the Internet company of a nondisclosure agreement, which would prevent them from discussing joint bids, according to people close to the situation.

* The Wall Street Journal reported Microsoft was working with Silver Lake Partners and the Canada Pension Plan Investment board on a joint bid for Yahoo.

* The world's largest daily deals company, Groupon Inc, which was planning to raise up to $750 million in an initial public offering, is now cutting the size, three people familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

* U.S. weekly jobless claims are due at 8:30 a.m., while the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank's October business activity survey and U.S. existing home sales for September are released at 10:00 a.m.

* European shares trimmed losses on Thursday, after the guideline document obtained by Reuters said the region's EFSF rescue fund would be able to buy bonds on the secondary market. However, the market was still nervous ahead of a European Union summit on Sunday and the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> was down 0.6 percent.

* U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday on doubts about the euro zone's ability to come up with a comprehensive plan to solve its debt crisis and the Federal Reserve gave a weak economic outlook for the United States.

(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)