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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stock futures were pointing to a positive open Wednesday, ahead of a wave of economic reports and a reading on oil supplies.

About an hour before the start of trading, Nasdaq and S&P futures were up, although they were off earlier highs after a disappointing jobs reading.

David Kelly, chief market strategist for JPMorgan Funds, said he believes futures are up on hopes that the various economic readings will at least be no worse than current expectations.

"The mood is gloomy, and I suspect we'll get some bad news," he said. "But there's a lot of bad news already priced in and it gives the market an ability to bounce."

There could be new recession worries raised by the ADP report on private sector employment, which showed a 23,000 decline in jobs. The report also revised the January gain down by 11,000 jobs to an rise of 119,000. The report was far weaker than forecasts of economists surveyed by Briefing.com, who had been looking for a rise of 15,000 jobs.

The report could mean trouble for the closely-watched government's reading on February employment, due Friday. Economists had been forecasting a 25,000 gain in U.S. payrolls overall, with the unemployment rate rising to 5%.

Also ahead of the bell Wednesday the Labor Department revised its reading on fourth-quarter productivity to a gain of 1.9%. Economists had forecast that would remain at a 1.8% increase that was originally reported a month ago.

At 10 a.m. will come the survey of service sector executives from the Institute of Supply Management. That reading, which fell sharply in January to 44.6, is expected to rebound to 47.5. But any reading below 50 still points to a decline in the sector. The January reading had spurred recession concerns among economists and investors.

Also due at 10 a.m. is a government report on on factory orders, where economists are looking for a 2.5% decline. Then at 2 p.m. will come the so-called Beige Book, which includes the economic outlook from various Federal Reserve district banks around the nation.

At 10:30 a.m. ET will come the weekly report on U.S. fuel inventories. Oil prices Wednesday were up ahead of the report after OPEC signaled it would leave output from its members unchanged. A barrel of light sweet crude gained 87 cents to $100.39 a barrel in electronic trading.

Kelly said he doesn't believe the primary results Tuesday, which saw Sen. Hillary Clinton score key wins in the Texas and Ohio primaries to revive her chances for the Democratic presidential nomination, are having much of an impact on futures.

"If Wall Street is cheering a prolonged Democratic race, it probably shouldn't be," he said. "The longer the that race is prolonged, the more both candidates will be pushed into extreme positions that are against business interests. It's a dangerous bet to be making."

In corporate news, discount retailer Costco (COST, Fortune 500) reported improved earnings that met Wall Street forecasts. Sales were helped by higher oil prices and strong sales outside the United States. Its rival BJ Wholesale Club (BJ, Fortune 500) also reported improved earnings ahead of the open as it topped forecasts.

The New York Times reported that Internet firm Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) is looking at ways to hold off a proxy fight with Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), including possibly delaying its annual meeting.

The Wall Street Journal reported that General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said he has turned over responsibility for the automaker's day-to-day operations to Fritz Henderson, the former chief financial officer who was promoted to the previously vacant president position Monday. Wagoner said he will concentrate on global growth, advanced technologies and environmental lobbying.

Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) stuck to its target of selling 10 million iPhones by the end of the year, despite growing worries by some analysts that a slowdown in the U.S. economy could cut into consumer demand. Apple shares rose 2.7% in early trading in Frankfurt.

After the close, No. 1 chipmaker Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) is scheduled to hold its analyst day.