New York - US stock index futures ticked up on Wednesday after two days of sharp swings and ahead of data on the labor market and the services sector.
* Following the most serious confrontation between Russia and the West over influence on Ukraine and control of Crimea, a global investing flight to safety on Monday reversed sharply on Tuesday. Markets were calmer on Wednesday, but volatility was expected given the fluid situation in Ukraine.
* The S&P 500 closed at a record high Tuesday ahead of the first face-to-face talks between Russia and the United States on averting the risk of war in the Crimean peninsula.
* Data on Wednesday include the ADP private sector employment report for February at 8:15 a.m. EST (15:15 SA time), and measures of services sector growth for February from Markit, at 8:58 a.m. (15:58 SA time), and ISM, at 10:00 a.m. EST (17:00 SA time).
* S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 2 points and fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract, was little changed.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 17 points and Nasdaq 100 futures added 5 points.
* Honeywell International set a target of increasing overall company sales to more than $50 billion by 2018 as it spends $10 billion on acquisitions and continues to expand profit margins. - Reuters