U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Wall Street on Wednesday following the previous session's sell-off, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.02 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.01 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.05 percent at 3.16 a.m. EST.

* Crude oil futures rose above $100 a barrel as tension in Libya ratcheted up, spurring fears other producers in the Middle East and North Africa could face similar popular revolts, and crude and gasoline stocks unexpectedly fell in the world's top oil importer, the United States.

* Two U.S. amphibious assault ships, the Kearsarge and the Ponce, entered Egypt's Suez Canal on Wednesday, on their way to the Mediterranean, a canal official said.

* Japan's Nikkei average fell more than 2 percent, while European stocks were down 0.9 percent in morning trade, on worries that the political unrest could result in persistently high energy prices and derail the global economic recovery.

* Yahoo Inc is in advanced talks to leave its Japanese joint venture in an effort to sort out its dysfunctional Asian partnerships and free up as much as $8 billion to fight Google and Facebook.

* Adidas , the world's second largest sporting goods company after Nike , increased its sales goal for 2011 on the back of rising consumer confidence and emerging markets growth.

* MBIA Inc , the largest bond insurer in the United States, posted fourth-quarter profit that beat market expectations, helped by a gain on insured derivatives.

* Digital video recorder maker TiVo Inc reported a wider quarterly loss as its expenses rose and it forecast a rise in research and development costs.

* U.S. power firm PPL Corp

is buying German utility E.ON's UK power networks for 3.5 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in cash to create one of the largest electricity distributors in Britain.

* More than a year after igniting the tablet computing craze, Apple Inc prepares to unveil the second version of its iPad on Wednesday.

* Bombardier Inc has agreed to sell as many as 120 aircraft to Warren Buffett's NetJets Inc in a deal that could earn it more than $6.7 billion.

* Investors awaited results from Staples, Inc. , while Costco Wholesale posted a 16 percent jump in its fourth-quarter profit.

* On the economic data front, the focus will be on the ADP employment report, which comes ahead of Friday's key payrolls report. ADP is expected to show a further 175,000 jobs added in February, vs. 187,000 the month before.

* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives his semi-annual monetary policy testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

* Concerns that rising oil prices could hurt economic recovery prompted investors on Tuesday to sell stocks and hedge against further declines. The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 169.38 points, or 1.39 percent, at 12,056.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 21.04 points, or 1.59 percent, to 1,306.18. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 44.86 points, or 1.61 percent, to 2,737.41.

* The CBOE Volatility Index VIX <.VIX>, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, jumped 14.5 percent to 21.01 on growing uncertainty about oil.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)