New York - US stock index futures ticked up on Wednesday ahead of another busy economic data session, with the Dow industrials index flirting with the 17,000 milestone and the S&P 500 less than 1.5 percent from hitting 2,000.
* The ADP National Employment Report is due at 8:15 a.m. EDT (14:15 SA time) and is expected to show the US private sector created 200,000 jobs last month, up from 179,000 in May.
Other data due includes New York State manufacturing, as well as factory orders and orders for long-lasting goods.
The jobs data will be closely watched a day ahead of the key government payrolls report.
* The Dow and the S&P 500 closed at record highs on Tuesday as manufacturing activity picked up in the United States and Asia and boosted optimism over the health of the global economy.
* S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 2 points and fair value - a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract - indicated a slightly higher open.
Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures rose 12 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures added 3 points.
* Rackspace Hosting shares jumped 8.3 percent premarket after TechCrunch reported the cloud service provider may take itself private and is in talks with a private equity firm to fund the deal.
* Adding to a recent string of deals that has lifted stocks in the healthcare sector, Roche said it would pay up to $1.725 billion to buy Seragon Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held US biotech company that researches breast cancer treatments.
* JPMorgan Chase shares will be in focus after chief executive Jamie Dimon said he had been diagnosed with early stage throat cancer but would remain actively involved in the largest US bank's business while in treatment. - Reuters