Wall Street seen lower with HP, Bernanke in focus

By Eva Kuehnen

FRANKFURT, May 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures eased on Tuesday, pointing to a weaker start on Wall Street with merger and acquisition activity in focus as Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) engages in talks to buy Electronic Data Systems (EDS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

At 0851 GMT, index futures for the S&P 500 SPc1 had fallen 0.2 percent, Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 eased 0.1 percent and Nasdaq futures NDc1 fell 0.2 percent.

The indicative Dow Jones index .DJII dropped 1.1 percent.

European shares were broadly unchanged while Asian markets gave a broadly firmer performance.

The technology sector is likely to take the limelight again after it lifted U.S. stocks on Monday, amid news that Hewlett-Packard was in talks to buy Electronic Data Services and on optimism over the U.S. economy.

"It is single stories that move markets at the moment," said Lutz Roehmeyer, fund manager at LBB Invest in Berlin.

"The whole issue of takeover speculation is pretty hot again," he said, adding that it was a good sign to see strategic buyers in the market.

Roehmeyer said refinancing problems of private equity firms and lower company valuations were the key drivers for this trend, "which indicates that we might see more strategic deals in future," he said.