Wall Street was set to edge up on Thursday, with a key index at its highest in seven weeks, as investors await labor market data giving indications of the recovery in the U.S. economy.

* Futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all up 0.3 percent at 0855 GMT.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of leading European shares was up 0.3 percent, with traders cautious ahead of an expected rate rise by the European Central Bank.

* The euro fell broadly on Thursday as investors looked beyond the rate rise to focus on the worsening euro zone debt crisis.

* The ADP national employment report was expected to show U.S. private hiring increased 68,000 in June after 38,000 in May, a month that probably took the brunt of temporary factors such as layoffs from auto shutdowns. It will also give a valuable signal regarding the relative health of the service sector labor market. The ADP report comes ahead of Friday's closely watched non-farm payrolls data.

* Weekly initial jobless claims were expected to have fallen slightly to 420,000 in the week ending July 2, from claims of 428,000 the prior week.

* After weeks of impasse, President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders were aiming for something big when they resume budget talks on Thursday to avert an imminent default. [nN1E76523G]

* More U.S. consumers had trouble making payments on credit cards and other debts during the first three months of the year due to higher food and gas prices, an industry report said. [nN1E7651VT]

* The New York Stock Exchange was expected to take a crucial step toward ceding control to a German company on Thursday, with little opposition expected from investors. NYSE Euronext shareholders were voting on whether to back a $9.4 billion takeover of the company that owns the NYSE by Deutsche Boerse . The deal was expected to get the needed 50 percent majority support from investors, including T. Rowe Price and other big U.S. fund companies.

* U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday even though data showed weaker growth in the services sector, with traders saying markets had an upward bias after last week's surge.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> was up 56.15 points, or 0.45 percent, at 12,626.02, the highest close since mid-May. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 1.34 points, or 0.10 percent, at 1,339.22. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 8.25 points, or 0.29 percent, at 2,834.02.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Dan Lalor)

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