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* S&P 500, Nasdaq coming off five-day advances
* Netflix jumps, results show strong subscriber growth
* Travelers and United Tech profits top expectations
* Futures up: Dow 6 pts, S&P 0.7 pt, Nasdaq 2.25 pts (Adds McDonald's results)
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futurespointed to a flat open on Tuesday as investors found few reasonsto keep buying after a five-day rally in the S&P 500, despitestrong results from a number of bellwether names.
* Netflix Inc surged 7.8 percent to $375.74 inpremarket trading a day after results showed strong subscribergrowth, a sign that the trading favorite still had room to growdespite concerns over its elevated valuation.
* Dow components Travelers Cos Inc and UnitedTechnologies Corp both reported first-quarter earningsthat beat expectations, and United Tech raised the low end ofits full-year profit outlook. Shares of Travelers rose 0.4percent to $86.75 before the bell.
* The three were the latest prominent names to topforecasts, continuing a trend that last week helped lift the S&P500 to its best week since July. McDonald's Corp reported earnings that fell alongside a drop in U.S. same-storesales, though the Dow component rose 0.9 percent to $100.60before the bell.
* Dozens of S&P 500 components are slated to report thisweek. Of the 87 that had reported thus far, 62.1 percent havetopped earnings expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data,compared with the 66 percent average over the past fourquarters. On revenue, 51.7 percent have exceeded forecasts,below the 54 percent average over the past four quarters.
* S&P 500 companies' first-quarter earnings are projected tohave increased 0.8 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters datashowed. The forecast is down sharply from the start of the year,when profit growth was estimated at 6.5 percent.
* S&P 500 futures rose 0.7 point and were slightlyunder fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by takinginto account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration onthe contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added6 points and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2.25 points.
* European shares were sharply higher on the day,rising 1.1 percent on the back of deal activity in thepharmaceutical space, including Novartis both swappingassets with GlaxoSmithKline and selling a unit to EliLilly & Co. U.S. shares of Glaxo rose 4 percent to$55.23 in premarket trading.
* In company news, Allergan Inc jumped 17.5 percentto $166.75 in premarket trading a day after activist investorWilliam Ackman teamed up with Canadian drugmaker ValeantPharmaceuticals International Inc to make a joint bidfor the company.
* General Motors Co filed a motion in a U.S.bankruptcy court to enforce a bar on lawsuits related toignition defects in cars sold before its 2009 bankruptcy as itfights a class action lawsuit that seeks to set aside therestriction. (Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Nick Zieminski)
