Wall Street futures point to rebound for U.S. equities

Stock futures rose on Tuesday, pointing to a higher open for Wall Street as the market resumes trading after a holiday on Monday.

Shares were expected to mirror gains in Europe, where stocks bounced back from a six-week closing low, and strength in Asian equity markets.

Gains, however, could be limited by lingering worries over the risk of a double-dip recession that have been playing on investors minds following disappointing non-farm payrolls data last week and slowing manufacturing growth in Asia and Europe.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday to close out their worst week in two months as jitters grew over the pace of economic recovery.

The S&P 500's 50-day moving average broke below its 200-day moving average, a break known as the death cross which technical analysts say could signal more losses ahead.

Investors are likely to closely monitor the U.S. ISM non-manufacturing report and employment index, both due at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT), for further clues to the state of the economy.

Highlighting the challenges ahead, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said the timing of monetary tightening will depend on conditions in the U.S. economy, which will slow in the latter half of this year, Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Tuesday.

BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it deals with its massive U.S. oil spill, a senior United Arab Emirates source said on Tuesday.

News Corp is in talks with Google Inc, Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc about advertising on MySpace, as an existing contract with Google ends, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Monsanto withdrew on Monday a legal complaint against European importers of processed soybean meal from Argentina, which the company had claimed breached the EU patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds.

European bank stress tests are likely to generate some interest, with the publication of the results due later this month. Sources told Reuters European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will meet with Europe's top banks to discuss the tests ahead of their outcome.

(Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)