Empresas y finanzas

Futures edge up ahead of Fed announcement

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures edged up on Wednesday after a four-day string of gains ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting.

* The Fed is set to announce its monetary policy decision at 12:30 p.m and many economists expect the central bank to extend its "Operation Twist," a program aimed at pushing down longer-term interest rates in a bid to support the economy.

* Greek center-left parties are poised to back a conservative-led coalition but may keep their own political leaders from joining a government that faces grinding battles over the austerity demands of foreign creditors.

* Europe won support from world leaders on Tuesday for an ambitious but slow-moving overhaul of the euro zone, even as pressure built in financial markets for quicker solutions to its debt crisis that threatens the world economy.

* European shares extended the previous session's strong gains in choppy trading on Wednesday, led by cyclical stocks, ahead of the Fed announcement. The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> of top European shares was up 0.2 percent. <.EU>

* S&P 500 futures rose 2.6 points and were slightly 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 30 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 10 points.

* Procter & Gamble Co forecast annual earnings for its coming fiscal year would be between flat and up by a mid-single digit percentage amount, with underlying sales set to show a 2 to 4 percent increase. Shares fell 2.2 percent to $60.83 in premarket trade.

* Adobe Systems Inc dipped 5.8 percent to $31 in premarket after the maker of Photoshop and Acrobat software cut its full-year revenue outlook as weak demand in Europe could affect sales of the recently launched versions of its popular design software.

* PepsiCo said it sees unfavorable exchange rates hurting 2012 profit more than the maker of Frito-Lay snacks, Quaker oatmeal and Tropicana orange juice had previously expected.

* S&P 500 companies expected to post earnings include from Bed Bath & Beyond Inc , Goodrich Corp and Red Hat Inc .

* Asian shares rose on Wednesday as investors bet that Europe's worsening debt crisis and faltering global growth will prompt major central banks to launch a new round of monetary stimulus.

(Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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