Stock futures dip ahead of manufacturing data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were modestly lower on Wednesday as investors looked set to consolidate recent gains and awaited a new round of economic data, including a look at the manufacturing sector.

The U.S. dollar rose against the yen after Japan intervened in foreign exchange markets for the first time in six years to curb the surging yen and protect its fragile economic recovery. Equities and the greenback have traded in opposite directions, though that relationship has not been as strong as late.

S&P 500 futures dipped 2.6 points and were 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 off 30 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures slipped 0.5 point.

Stocks ended flat Tuesday, though the broad S&P 500 index stayed above its 200-day moving average of around 1,115 after closing beyond that level on Monday for the first time since early August.

Staying above 1,115 could be a bullish signal and analysts have their eye on 1,130 as the next resistance point.

Nonetheless, some profit-taking has started to creep in after gains of more than 6 percent for September as investors take a more optimistic view of the economy.

Data on tap includes industrial production for August, due at 9:15 a.m. EDT, which is forecast rising 0.3 percent. Capacity utilization was expected to rise to 75. Also, a gauge of manufacturing in New York State for September is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT and expected to rise to 8. At the same time, import prices will be released and were forecast to rise 0.3 percent in August.

Transocean Ltd shares rose 1.5 percent to $59.23 in premarket trade. Another Transocean rig is leaving the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, still under contract with Statoil -- the fourth rig departure resulting from a moratorium on U.S. deepwater drilling.

Speaking at a healthcare conference, Sanofi-Aventis SA Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher said the company was not in a hurry to buy Genzyme Corp , and still does not see a rival bid emerging.

(Reporting by Leah Schnurr; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)