Futures little changed ahead of Greek debt talks

[February 11, 2015] By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday, after the S&P 500 climbed to its highest level of the year and ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers to discuss plans for Greece's debt.

* Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras comfortably won a confidence vote on his plan to cancel a deeply unpopular bailout program ahead of the meeting of euro zone finance ministers. EU leaders will meet on Thursday to discuss the Greek debt crisis.

* The benchmark S&P index rose more than 1 percent on Tuesday on hopes negotiations would result in a deal to help resolve Greek debt problems and stabilize the euro zone. The index is now down 1.1 percent from its latest record high set on Dec. 29.

* PepsiCo rose 2.6 percent to $100.50 before the opening bell after the maker of soft drinks and Tropicana beverages posted quarterly results.

* Despite some high-profile earnings misses from large multinational companies, largely as a result of dollar strength, Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning showed 72.7 percent of the 341 S&P 500 components that have reported earnings topped expectations, above the 69 percent beat rate in the past four quarters.

* Apple Inc <AAPL.O> will buy about $850 million of power from a First Solar <FSLR.O> plant in California to cut its energy bill and supply energy to the company's campus, offices and stores in the state. Apple shares edged up 0.3 percent to $122.38 in premarket while First Solar climbed 2 percent to $49.50.

* Rite Aid > rose 4.9 percent to $7.95 in premarket after the drugstore operator said it would buy privately held pharmacy benefit manager EnvisionRx for about $2 billion.

* Pier 1 Imports tumbled 31.4 percent to $11.65 in premarket after the furniture retailer cut its 2015 profit forecast, citing weak sales in January and February.

* After the closing bell, earnings are expected from Applied Materials,  Cisco Systems, TripAdvisor and Whole Foods Market.

* European shares slipped, with investors uneasy over the euro zone ministerial meetings on Greece's debt crisis while Asian markets edged lower with Japanese markets closed for a public holiday.

Futures snapshot at 7:33:

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.75 points, or 0.08 percent, with 68,252 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis remained unchanged, in volume of 10,712 contracts.

* Dow e-minis  were down 24 points, or 0.13 percent, with 9,611 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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