Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the Nasdaq 100 and the S&P 500 share indexes are down 0.2-0.4 percent at 5:02 a.m. EDT, pointing to a lower start on Wall Street.
* Bank of America has been deemed to need as much as $34 billion in additional capital, according to results of a government stress test, a source familiar with the results told Reuters. Shares in Bank of America in Frankfurt were down 9.4 percent.
* Citigroup , meanwhile, may have to raise $5 billion to $10 billion in new capital to meet a U.S. government requirement that it holds up to $55 billion in capital, the New York Times said, citing people familiar with the matter. Shares in Citigroup in Frankfurt slipped 2.8 percent.
* European shares were higher in morning trade on Wednesday with banks leading the risers after France's biggest bank by market capitalization BNP Parbias posted first-quarter profits well ahead of forecasts. At 5:02 a.m. EDT the FTSEurofirst index was up 0.8 percent at 853.52 points.
* Wall Street will be watching for signs of improvement in ad sales from News Corp . Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates are expecting earnings to have fallen by about half from a year ago to 16 cents per share.
* Technology bellwether Cisco Systems reports results as investors look for hints of a stabilizing economy. Analysts are expecting earnings of 25 cents per share for the quarter, its fiscal third quarter, down from 38 cents a year ago.
* Anheuser-Busch InBev , the world's largest brewer, is seen reporting a rise in first-quarter core profit on the back of market share gains and cost savings at its U.S. business. Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates expect the company to report earnings of 35 cents per share, down from 42 cents in the year ago quarter.
* Prudential Financial
, the second-largest U.S. life insurer, is expected to report first-quarter income that is higher than a year ago, even though investment losses and write-downs are still expected to take a bite. Reuters Estimates says analysts are expecting earnings of 78 cents per share, less than half the $1.68 per share it earned a year ago.
* Marsh & McLennan , the world's second-largest insurance broker, is expected to post a profit compared with a large loss in the year-ago quarter when it took a large restructuring charge. Analysts see it posting earnings of 51 cents per share, excluding items, up from 46 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.
* Declining spending by oil and gas producers is likely to trim profits from offshore driller Transocean . Analysts are looking for earnings of $3.50 per share, down 30 cents from the same quarter in 2008.
* Genzyme holds its investor day, and analysts will be looking for signs the biotechnology company will be able to increase supplies of its Pompe disease drug Myozyme and sustain product growth following disappointing first-quarter earnings.
* Shares of Dow Chemical dropped more than 4 percent to $15.63 after the bell on Tuesday after the company said it had commenced a $1.63 billion public offering of its common stock.
* Shares of Walt Disney rose 4.3 percent in extended trade after the company reported second-quarter results.
* The April ADP employment report due out at 8:15 a.m. EDT is expected to show that the number of private-sector jobs fell by 25,000, well below the 742,000 decline registered in March, and could foreshadow the all-important non-farm payroll report due on Friday.
* U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday as cautious investors fretted about impending bank stress test results and energy shares succumbed to the pressure of lower oil prices.
* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dipped 0.2 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 0.4 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dipped 0.54 percent.
(Reporting by Joanne Frearson; editing by Simon Jessop)
