U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher start on Wall Street on Wednesday, recovering from the previous session's fall, when housing weakness hit shares.

In takeover talk, Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that Alcan has begun negotiating toward a merger agreement with Rio Tinto to fend off a hostile bid from U.S. rival Alcoa.

Dow Jones & Co., in talks for a takeover by News Corp., met supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan on Tuesday in an effort to find an alternative offer, a source familiar with the situation said.

By 1050 GMT, June Dow Jones futures were up 0.2 percent, S&P futures rose 0.3 percent and Nasdaq futures added 0.1 percent.

U.S. stocks slid on Tuesday as the subprime mortgage crisis escalated, undermining banking shares, while Home Depot and other housing-related companies cut their outlooks.

Standard & Poor's also roiled financial markets when it said it may cut ratings on $12 billion of subprime-related debt on forecasts of more delinquent and defaulted U.S. home loans.

The nervousness in financial markets has been driven predominantly by the concerns in the sub-prime market in the U.S., said Philipp Vorndran, a global investment strategist at the asset management side of Credit Suisse.

However, the economic data coming out of various countries remains highly supportive and we therefore remain positive on the outlook for the global economy, Vorndran said in a note.

Whereas previously investors have been worried about weakness in economic growth, in our opinion, the biggest risk is now on the upside -- that is a stronger than expected rise in GDP.

Chevron Corp. might be in focus after the oil company said it expects high oil and gas prices, strong refining margins and a large gain from the sale of its stake in Dynegy Inc. to help second-quarter earnings.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrial average lost 1.1 percent to end at 13,501.7, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 1.4 percent to 1,510.1. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.2 percent to 2,639.2.

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