Wall Street set to drift at four-month highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open little changed on Thursday as hopes about European Central Bank action to tackle the bloc's crisis grew stale, giving way to angst after European and U.S. equity benchmarks hit multi-month highs.

However, Chinese economic data kept alive talk that central banks will intervene to support the global economy as annual growth in factory output slowed to its weakest in more than three years in July while annual consumer price inflation hit a 30-month low.

The S&P 500, up for five weeks and also near four-year highs, has risen as investors bet central banks, including the Federal Reserve, will soon act in support of a stalling global economic recovery.

"The Europeans indicated their strong support but have yet to take any actual action, the Fed has indicated strong support but is yet to take any action, leaving professional investors fearful of shorting the market," said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in New York.

"There's individual stock stories that will continue to impact industries, but absent that there really isn't much to move this."

Government data showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment insurance unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting a modest improvement in the labor market.

S&P 500 futures fell 1 point and were slightly below 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 were up 10 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 5 points.

The S&P closed Wednesday at its highest since early May and Europe's FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> was at a four-month high.

Kohl's Corp reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit despite weak sales as the department store chain reined in its costs, but its shares fell 1.8 percent premarket.

News Corp shares fell 3.3 percent in light premarket trading a day after the media giant posted a quarterly loss.

Beauty products maker Elizabeth Arden forecast 2013 profit above estimates on stronger sales and its shares jumped 15 percent in light trading.

Nestle , the world's biggest food group, said first-half results beat expectations and it expects pressure from the high prices of basic foodstuffs to ease in the second half of the year. Its shares, traded in Switzerland, rose 3 percent.

Shares of Robbins & Myers jumped 27 percent in premarket trading as National Oilwell Varco said it will buy Robbins & Myers for $2.54 billion in cash.

Several private equity firms that have been approached to join in a buyout of Best Buy are sitting on the fence, private equity sources said, citing the lack of a tangible plan by the retailer's founder Richard Schulze, and doubts about his ability to pull the deal off.

(Editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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