Futures edge up as investors await ECB, data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures gained slightly as investors awaited confirmation that the European Central Bank would announce new economic stimulus measures at a meeting on Thursday.

The ECB is widely expected to unveil a large bond-buying program, which is designed to combat the risk of deflation and a weakening euro zone economy. A source told Reuters Wednesday the Executive Board had proposed that the bank buys 50 billion euros ($58 billion) in bonds per month from March.

Equities rose on that report, with many U.S. stocks standing to benefit from accommodative programs in Europe, one of the United States' key trading partners.

ECB President Mario Draghi will speak to the media at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), and if the details of the plan are perceived as inadequate to return inflation to target, that could spur market losses, especially with the benchmark S&P 500 within 3 percent of its record closing high.

American Express Co late Wednesday reported revenue growth of 6.6 percent, though the credit card company also said it would cut more than 4,000 jobs this year as expenses and provisions for bad loans rose. Shares dipped 1.7 percent to $86.20 in light premarket trading.

F5 Networks Inc slumped 15.4 percent to $106.50 in premarket trading after the network equipment maker reported revenue that missed expectations for the first time in eight quarters. It also forecast current-quarter revenue and profit below market estimates.

Shares of online auction site eBay Inc rose 3 percent before the opening bell, a day after it said it was exploring a sale or public offering of its enterprise unit, and announced an agreement with activist investor Carl Icahn that will give investors a greater say in its PayPal payments unit once it is spun off.

U.S. crude futures rose 1.6 percent to $48.56 per barrel, the third time the commodity has advanced more than 1.5 percent in the past four sessions. The recent trend could indicate that crude prices have found a floor after dropping by more than half since June. Despite the advance, oil remains mildly lower on the week, putting it on track for its 15th negative week out of the last 17.

Investors were looking ahead to jobless claims data due at 8:30 a.m., which is expected to show a drop by 16,000 to 300,000 in the latest week.

Futures snapshot at 6:54 a.m.:

S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.5 points, or 0.22 percent, with 87,593 contracts changing hands.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 4.75 points, or 0.11 percent, in volume of 16,667 contracts.

Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 42 points, or 0.24 percent, with 12,061 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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