NEW YORK, May 2 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Wednesday, a day after the Dow closed at its highest level in more than four years as disappointing euro zone data sparked new concerns over the region's fiscal health ahead of domestic economic data.
Markit's Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index dropped to 45.9 last month from 47.7 in March, marking its lowest reading since June 2009. European shares erased earlier gains and the euro dropped to its lowest level in two weeks against the Japanese yen.
At 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT), Automatic Data Processing releases its April employment report. Economists expect 177,000 jobs were created in April, versus 209,000 new jobs in March.
The Commerce Department releases March factory orders at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Economists look for a 1.6 percent drop, compared with a 1.3 percent rise in February.
"If those numbers come in at or better than expectations, maybe we can decouple here (from Europe) and continue to rally," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.
"If those numbers come in weaker than expectations, with Europe under pressure, it is clearly going to pressure our markets further here and prevent the breakout."
S&P 500 futures fell 3.5 points and were below 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 dipped 20 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 8 points.
CVS Caremark Corp gained 2.9 percent to $46 in premarket trading after the drugstore operator and pharmacy benefits manager posted a sharp rise in first-quarter sales and raised its profit forecast.
Results are also expected from 31 S&P 500 companies on Wednesday, including Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc, Whole Foods Market Inc and Symantec Corp.
Of the 321 S&P 500 companies that have reported results so far, 71.3 percent have topped analysts' estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data through Tuesday morning.
Chesapeake Energy Corp dropped 8.2 percent to $18 premarket after the company reported that natural gas production was almost unchanged in the first quarter versus late 2011, confirming fears that pledges to cut output have so far failed to stem a flood of supply.
Women's clothing retailer Ascena Retail Group Inc will buy Charming Shoppes Inc for $857.2 million in an all-cash deal that will expand its plus-size clothing portfolio. Charming shares jumped 23.7 percent to $7.30 premarket.
Chipmaker Microchip Technology Inc will acquire smaller rival Standard Microsystems Corp for $829.2 million to boost its embedded market offerings. Standard Micro shares surged 38.7 percent to $36.40 premarket.
Asian shares rose after strong U.S. factory data raised hopes the world's biggest economy remained on a recovery track while growth in Asian manufacturing improved broader sentiment. (Reporting By Chuck Mikolajczak; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
