By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to fall at the open on Wednesday after data showed the economy grew at a sharply lower-than-expected pace in the first quarter, but gains in private payrolls kept losses in check.
* Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1 percent annual rate, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012, as exports and inventories weighed, but activity already appears to be bouncing back. It was a sharp pullback from the fourth quarter's 2.6 percent pace.
* U.S. private employers, however, beat expectations by adding 220,000 workers in April, the highest amount since November, and gains in the prior month were revised up to 209,000 from 191,000.
* Twitter
* EBay
* S&P 500 e-mini futures fell 2 points. Fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract, indicated a lower open. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 2 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 10 points.
* Nuclear power producer Exelon
* French engineering group Alstom
* Markets will have their eyes on the Federal Reserve's policy-setting meeting, as well, set to end later on Wednesday. The Fed is expected to cut its bond-buying program by a further $10 billion on signs the U.S. economy is picking up steam after a winter slowdown.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Nick Zieminski)
