U.S. index stock futures pointed to a higher wall street open on Wednesday as a jump in the price of oil and other commodities spurred a rebound in energy and natural resource stocks.

Investor optimism was also buoyed by news out of China suggesting the world's third-largest economy may be on the brink of a recovery, while a rebound in Asian and European stocks added to the positive tone.

Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 1.1 percent to $65.1 in trading before the bell, while Alcoa Inc rose 3.8 percent to $5.74, and miner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc more than 4 percent to $29.70.

U.S. front month crude rose 3 percent to $42.90 a barrel, supported by news that Chinese manufacturing improved in February.

China will increase spending in areas such as infrastructure and manufacturing on top of the 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus package that it unveiled in November, a senior economic planning official said.

What is good for China is good for the world, said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

S&P 500 futures rose 10.60 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures gained 91 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 11.75 points.

Companies posting quarterly results before the bell included luxury home builder Toll Brothers which posted a narrower quarterly loss.

Costco Wholesale Corp reported a drop of 27 percent in quarterly profit as the No.1 U.S. warehouse club operator cut prices to win market share during the year-end holiday season.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is back on Capitol Hill to testify before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee on the president's budget proposal at 10 a.m..

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) releases its February employment report at 8.15 a.m., expected to show that more jobs were lost in February than in January.

The Institute for Supply Management releases its February nonmanufacturing index, which is also expected to show a deterioration in economic activity, at 10.00 a.m..

The Fed releases Beige Book of regional economic conditions 2 p.m..

In Tuesday's trading U.S. stocks fell, with the S&P ending below 700 for the first time since October 1996 as persistent uncertainty about the amount of money needed to shore up the financial system overshadowed a hunt for bargains.

(Editing by James Dalgleish)

Manufacturing Energy Investment China