Stocks futures rose on Wednesday, pointing to a higher start for Wall Street after the world's top chipmaker Intel Corp posted better-than-expected first-quarter results and gave an outlook that topped Wall Street forecasts.

Intel Corp's above-forecast sales and margin expectations, which were released after U.S. markets closed on Tuesday, reinforced hopes for an acceleration in the technology sector's recovery and lifted tech stocks in Europe and Asia.

Intel shares in Frankfurt rose 4.3 percent.

JPMorgan Chase is expected to release first-quarter results before U.S. markets open on Wednesday, with analysts forecasting the bank to post earnings per share of $0.64 compared to $0.40 a year ago on hopes of a healthier mortgage and loans sector.

Other companies reporting quarterly results on Wednesday include W.W.Grainger and Yum! Brands .

U.S. stocks eked out a gain on Tuesday as investors looked ahead to earnings from big banks and tech bellwethers even as disappointing revenue from Alcoa Inc acted as a headwind.

Shares of CSX Corp rose more than 3 percent after the bell on Tuesday to $54.70 following the release of the company's first-quarter results.

Semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices rose 3.2 percent to $9.27 after the bell, buoyed by Intel's results.

Linear Technology Corp rose more than 3 percent to $30.65 after the bell, following the release of the company's quarterly results.

U.S. President Barack Obama will try to turn up the pressure for an overhaul of Wall Street regulations as he meets on Wednesday with top Democratic and Republican lawmakers to discuss a sweeping package of reforms.

Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Tuesday he thinks the time to drop the Fed's promise to hold rates low for a long time might be drawing nearer. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to discuss the economic outlook in a congressional testimony on Wednesday.

Data set for release on Wednesday include MBA 30-year mortgage rate and MBA purchase index for the week ahead at 7 a.m. ET, retail sales and consumer prices for March at 8:30 a.m. ET and February's business inventories at 10 a.m. ET.

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

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