Stock index futures rose on Thursday, indicating the S&P 500 may bounce back from its worst day since mid-August as Italian bond yields eased.

Traders said the European Central Bank increased its bond buying, but the ECB's hard-line chief economist told governments not to expect the bank to rescue them with unlimited funds. A pullback in Italian bond yields helped support sentiment.

Italy, the region's third-largest economy, has replaced Greece at the center of the European debt crisis storm, with the country's borrowing costs at unsustainable levels and Europe unable to afford a bailout.

European shares turned negative in choppy trade, with the focus firmly on Italy. Asian stocks fell about 3 percent on fears over Europe. and <.EU>

S&P 500 futures rose 14.6 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures climbed 92 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 25 points.

The S&P 500 saw its worst daily percentage drop since August 18 on Wednesday. All 10 S&P sectors closed down, with S&P financials <.GSPF> the hardest hit.

Cisco Systems Inc jumped 5.3 percent to $18.54 in premarket trade after the world's biggest networking equipment maker forecast revenue and earnings above expectations for its fiscal second quarter.

After the closing bell, Walt Disney Co and Nvidia Corp are due to post quarterly results.

Disney will seek to reassure Wall Street that global economic woes have not hurt its nearly $11 billion parks and resorts business or held back an advertising rebound at ESPN and its other cable networks.

First-time claims for jobless benefits for the week ended November 5 and import-export prices for October from the Labor Department are due at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT).

Also at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), the Commerce Department releases September international trade figures.

(Reporting by Chuck .Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

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