Stock index futures points to higher open

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday as U.S. stock markets reopen after the Presidents' Day holiday.

Futures for the S&P 500 0.1 percent, Dow Jones futures 0.1 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures 0.2 percent at 1042 GMT.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> rose 0.6 percent, helped by better-than-expected German ZEW economic sentiment.

Japan's Nikkei share average edged down on Tuesday as Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso played down talk of foreign bond buying by the central bank, while index heavyweight Fanuc Corp dropped on weak machine tool orders from China.

The National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo issue the February housing market index at 1500 GMT, expected to come in at 48, up from 47 in the previous month.

Office Depot Inc , the No.2 U.S. office supply retailer, is in advanced talks to merge with smaller rival OfficeMax Inc OMX.N and a deal could come as early as this week, a person familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Cells in a second lithium-ion battery on a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner forced to make an emergency landing in Japan last month showed slight swelling, a Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB) official said on Tuesday.

Nike Inc said on Monday it has no plan to run future ads using Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, charged with murdering his girlfriend.

European data watchdogs said on Monday they plan to take action against Google by this summer for its privacy policy, which allows the search engine to pool user data from across all its services ranging from YouTube to Gmail.

Russian developer Regions Group said it planned to invest around $3 billion in the construction of three theme parks under a licensing agreement with Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc .

An investor bid to break up Hess Corp's sprawling energy empire has drawn unwelcome attention to one of the commodity trading world's lesser-known players, a venture that has stumbled in recent years after a decade of success.

Computer-maker Dell reports fourth-quarter results, expected to show earnings per share fall to $0.39 from $0.51 one year earlier. Analysts will have their first chance to grill management on a buyout deal struck earlier this month by chief executive Michael Dell, private equity firm Silver Lake and Microsoft .

Swiss authorities said on Monday they have not yet been asked to help a U.S. investigation into alleged insider trading in call options of H.J. Heinz Co the day before the company announced it would be sold, even though a Zurich account is at the heart of the matter.

Hotel operator Marriott International is also among companies due to report results .

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> closed up 11.27 points, or 0.08 percent, at 13,984.66 on Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 0.32 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,521.70. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 1.51 points, or 0.05 percent, at 3,200.17.

(Reporting By Francesco Canepa and David Brett. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)

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