Stock futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.3 to 0.7 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Wednesday.

Automatic Data Processing releases its August employment report at 1215 GMT (8:15 a.m. EDT). Economists in a Reuters survey expect 19,000 jobs were created in August versus 42,000 created in July.

The Institute for Supply Management releases at 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT) its August manufacturing index. Economists in a Reuters survey expect a reading of 53.0 versus 55.5 in July.

Burger King Holdings Inc, the No. 2 U.S. hamburger chain, has been considering a possible sale and has held talks with potential buyers, a source familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Automakers are scheduled to release August vehicle sales numbers.

At 1100 GMT (7 a.m. EDT) the Mortgage Bankers Association releases Weekly Mortgage Market Index for the week ended August 27. The mortgage market index read 870.3 and the refinancing index was 4,944.7 in the previous week.

Resource-related stocks will be in focus after crude oil rebounded by more than 0.8 percent to top $72 a barrel on China's manufacturing data. Key base metals also gained.

Apple Inc is expected to show off a snazzier line of iPods on Wednesday, as speculation mounts the consumer electronics giant may also unveil plans to reinvigorate its long-neglected TV project.

Sony Corp will launch a new music and video download service linking a range of its devices, in a challenge to Apple's dominant position in the market, the Financial Times said on Wednesday.

Companies to announce results include ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, SAIC, a government technical services provider, and Brown-Forman, the maker of Jack Daniel's whisky, Southern Comfort and Finlandia vodka.

Genzyme Corp Chief Executive Henri Termeer told Reuters he is willing to sell the company he built up over 25 years, but not for $69 a share.

Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc releases at 1130 GMT (7:30 a.m. EDT) its report on job cuts for August. Challenger reported 41,676 layoffs in the prior month.

Sprint Nextel's board of directors is debating whether to let a rival operator invest in its majority-owned wireless network provider Clearwire Corp, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Amazon.com Inc has approached media companies with a proposal for a subscription service that gives users unlimited access to some television shows and movies over the Internet in a bid to rival Netflix Inc, two people familiar with the talks said on Tuesday.

At 1400 GMT (10 a.m. EDT) the Commerce Department releases July construction spending. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a fall of 0.5 percent, compared with a 0.1 percent rise in the prior month.

U.S. stocks ended little changed in choppy trading on Tuesday. The Dow Jones industrial average edged up 4.99 points, or 0.05 percent, to 10,014.72. The Standard & Poor's 500 ticked up 0.41 point, or 0.04 percent, to 1,049.33. The Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.94 points, or 0.28 percent, to close at 2,114.03.

Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.2 percent after hitting a 16-month low on Wednesday, drawing support from a halt in the rapid advance in the yen on a manufacturing rebound in China and stronger-than-expected growth in Australia.

China's manufacturing sector regained some momentum in August while India and Russia continued to power ahead, cheering investors in the face of signs that sputtering U.S. recovery was cooling global demand.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.2 percent after briefly turning negative.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Michael Shields)