By Ellis Mnyandu NEW YORK, Nov 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to flat to slightly higher Wall Street open on Thursday after Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) offered some reassuring news about consumer spending. In addition, investors were poised to follow up a three-day losing streak with a search for downtrodden shares. News of a stronger-than-expected third-quarter profit from Wal-Mart provided some comfort, but sentiment remained shaky as investors fretted about Intel Corp's (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lowered revenue outlook. Even though Wal-Mart trimmed its full-year profit forecast, the world's largest retailer said it was optimistic about the current quarter, which spans the all-important holiday shopping season. For details, see [ID:nN13306963] "The Wal-Mart news, what it does is instill some confidence that there are still some companies that are still doing well," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group in Ridgewood, New Jersey. "Also look at what the market has done over the last three days. It's gotten crushed. So we're in the very short-term basis oversold." S&P 500 futures SPc1 slipped 1.40 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures DJc1 fell 14 points, and Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures fell 9.50 points. Shares of Wal-Mart, a Dow component, were little changed before the bell, while those of Intel, a chip maker, slipped 4.4 percent to $12.92. At Wednesday's close the broader market stood a whisker away from retesting its October 10 low, a development which traditionally sees bulls trying to initially make a stand against the bears, in turn helping provide the market some short-term support. In corporate news, Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is in talks to buy U.S. regional lender Chevy Chase Bank FSB (CCX_pc.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) , which operates in the mid-Atlantic region, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nBNG364257] Citigroup shares were up 1.7 percent at $9.80 before the bell. Thursday's economic calendar includes a report on weekly jobless claims, due for release at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). U.S. stocks sank for the third day on Wednesday after the United States backed away from using its $700 billion bailout to mop up sour mortgages and added to uncertainty about how the government plans to revive lending and the economy. (Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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