Wall Street set to open higher following data

By Tanya Agrawal

REUTERS - U.S. stocks were set to open higher on Wednesday a day after a rally on Wall Street fizzled as concerns about China's economy overwhelmed a bout of bargain-hunting.

Futures extended their gains after data showed that non-defense capital goods orders, excluding aircraft, posted their largest increase in just over a year.

Other data showed applications for U.S. home mortgages edged up last week.

The stronger data improved the case for a U.S. interest rate increase in September. Investors will get further clues on a rate hike when Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley speaks on the regional economy later in the day.

Adding to the positive tone, a European Central Bank official indicated that the ECB could provide further monetary support should falling commodity prices put the bank's inflation target at increased risk.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 48.25 points, or 2.58 percent, with 615,033 contracts traded at 8:40 a.m. ET.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 114 points, or 2.83 percent, on volume of 96,529 contracts. Dow e-minis were up 379 points, or 2.41 percent, with 63,752 contracts changing hands.

Up to Tuesday's close, the Dow had lost 10.71 percent in the past six trading days, while the S&P 500 dropped 11.71 percent and the Nasdaq composite 11.5 percent.

The S&P 500 rose as much as 2.9 percent on Tuesday before closing down 1.35 percent, while the Dow rose as much as 2.8 percent before closing down 1.29 percent. The Nasdaq rose as much as 3.6 percent before ending down 0.44 percent.

"These type of swings are typical when the market behaves in a way that is a real test of nerves and there is a lot of ongoing uncertainty," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended down for the fifth straight day, underscoring fragile confidence and deep doubt over whether the Chinese central bank's cuts in interest rates and reserve ratios on Tuesday could stabilize the economy.

The dollar index, which touched a 7-month low earlier in the week, reversed course to be up 0.40 percent after the U.S. data. Treasury prices fell.

Oil prices were little changed around 6-1/2-year lows, with U.S. crude still below $40 per barrel.

Google shares were up 5 percent at $643 in premarket trading after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to "buy" from "neutral" and added it to its conviction buy list.

Cameron International soared 44.8 percent to $61.47 after Schlumberger, the world's No.1 oilfield services company, said it would buy the oilfield equipment maker in a deal valued at $14.8 billion. Schlumberger fell 1.4 percent to $71.40.

Abercrombie & Fitch jumped 15.8 percent to $19.90 after the teen apparel retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly sales.

(Additional reporting by Sweta Singh; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)