Futures point to lower start for Wall Street

Wall Street was expected to open lower on Wednesday, slipping back from a nine-month high, as investors awaited further pointers to a potential economic recovery, and more second-quarter earnings.

* At 5:23 a.m. EDT, futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down between 0.2 and 0.4 percent.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent at 942.46 points, having moved in and out of positive territory several times.

* Two days before the non-farm payrolls data for July is issued, the ADP Employment Report of private sector employers is forecast to show a narrowing in the number of jobs cut to 345,000 in July from 473,000 in June.

* The U.S. service sector is forecast to show contraction for July, but less than it shrank in June, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The Institute of Supply Management's service sector index is estimated to have risen to 48.0 in July from 47 in June.

* Procter & Gamble (PG.N) may discuss some new products when it reports fourth-quarter earnings, likely to have dropped due to lower consumer spending.

* Other companies due to report include Polo Ralph Lauren (RL.N) and Prudential Financial (PRU.N).

* After the closing bell on Tuesday, shares in Electronic Arts (ERTS.O) jumped 3.7 percent to $22.70 after it released quarterly results.

* Also after the bell and after results, Whole Foods Market (WFMI.O) jumped 12 percent, and Cephalon (CEPH.O) fell 3.8 percent.

* U.S. stocks edged higher on Tuesday, led by the financial sector as economic data pointed to a sustained if slow recovery from the recession, taking the Dow and the S&P 500 to nine-month highs.