Stock futures rise ahead of GM, Coca-Cola results

[October 21, 2015]  By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher on Wednesday, set to reverse the small losses on Tuesday, ahead of earnings reports from heavyweights including General Motors, Boeing and Coca-Cola.

* American Express  and eBay report after the close.

* Investors will be parsing the quarterly reports for clues on the measures companies are taking to increase revenue and protect profits as concerns about an economic slowdown deepen.

* S&P 500 companies are expected to report a 3.9 percent decline in third-quarter profit and a 3.8 percent fall in revenue, according to Thomson Reuters data.

* Weak European earnings and a slide in Chinese small-cap stocks weighed on global stocks.

* U.S. stocks closed slightly lower on Tuesday as losses in healthcare and biotech stocks offset gains in Verizon and United Technologies.

* Shares of Yahoo were down 1.3 percent at $32.40 premarket on Wednesday after the Internet company's quarterly earnings and profit missed expectations.

* Chipotle fell 8 percent to $649.00 after the burrito chain posted disappointing third-quarter results.

* VMware sank 4.2 percent to $65.90 after the virtualization software maker forecast current-quarter revenue below estimates.

* Brent crude fell slightly as U.S. oil inventories rose, while copper prices continued falling as demand from China weakens.

Futures snapshot at 6:44 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.47 percent, with 139,426 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis  were up 20.25 points, or 0.46 percent, on volume of 22,587 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 68 points, or 0.4 percent, with 20,440 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)

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