* Target, Staples rise after results beat views
* Euro, oil higher as risk makes comeback
* Futures: Dow up 40 pts, S&P up 3.6 pts, Nasdaq off 1.5
* For up-to-the-minute market news see [STXNEWS/US] (Updates prices, rewrites throughout, adds comment, byline)
By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK, Aug 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday as investors focused on strong earnings reports and as commodities and the euro gained, indicating more willingness to add to risky assets.
Earnings beats from Target Corp
"We've seen some household names put out better earnings numbers this morning, and that's extremely constructive," said Art Hogan, managing director of Lazard Capital Markets in New York.
S&P 500 futures
The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of leading European shares shook off earlier losses to trade near break even, even as financial shares <.SX7P> fell after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy declared any thoughts of common euro bond issuance would have to wait. For details, see [ID:nL5E7JG0IH]
"There was a consensus agreement that we'd like to move closer to a euro bond," said Hogan. "But falling short of that you've got a very strong signal from Germany that they're going to do whatever it takes, and that's bleeding into the strength of the euro and as that happens we see a commodities rally."
The euro rose 0.6 percent against the U.S. dollar, while U.S. crude futures advanced 1.8 percent. Gold held steady near a record high.
Weighing on Nasdaq futures, Dell Inc
Inflation moves into the spotlight with the release of U.S. producer prices for July. Economists expect a rise of 0.1 percent after a 0.4 percent fall in June. Excluding food and energy, they are forecast up 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in June. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT)
Target Corp
Staples Inc
U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after three days of gains, partly on disappointment about the outcome of the Sarkozy-Merkel meeting. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)