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 * The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite rose on Wednesday following
three days of losses as tech shares advanced, while the blue-chip
Dow index ticked lower, weighed by Walt Disney's <DIS.N> largest
daily drop in almost seven years.
* Data showed U.S. private job growth slowed in July, but a surge in
services industry activity to a near-decade high suggested solid
economic momentum that strengthens the case for a Fed interest rate
hike this year.
* The Fed has said it will raise rates only when it sees a sustained
recovery in the economy. A hike in rates, which have stayed near
zero for nearly a decade, will increase the borrowing costs for
companies, crimping profits.
* Data on Thursday is expected to show that the number of Americans
filing new applications for unemployment benefits last week is
expected to have increased by 6,000 to 273,000. The numbers are
expected at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
* Marathon Oil, Monster Beverage and Zynga are among the companies
scheduled to report after the close of market.
* With about three-quarters of the companies having reported,
second-quarter earnings are estimated to have increased 1.3 percent
while revenues are projected to have fallen 3.5 percent.
* Mondelez International shares rose 6.9 percent to $49.42 in
premarket trading after billionaire activist investor William
Ackman's hedge fund said it has built a stake worth about $5.5
billion in the Cadbury chocolate and Oreo cookies maker.
* Tesla Motors fell 6.2 percent to $253.34 after the electric car
maker posted a wider quarterly loss and said it may raise more cash
to offset heavy spending on expanded production.
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* Keurig Green Mountain slumped 30 percent to $52.76, a day
after the company said it expects to reduce its workforce by about 5
percent and lowered its annual sales and earnings-per-share
forecasts.
* Fitbit fell 9.5 percent to $46.70 after the wearable fitness
tracking devices maker said margins fell in the second quarter that
it does not expect margins to improve for the rest of the year.
Futures snapshot at 7:01 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.25 points, or 0.01 percent, with 61,568
contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 3.25 points, or 0.07 percent, on volume
of 14,070 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.05 percent, with 7,630
contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal)
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