(Reuters) - Stock index futures fell on Tuesday, a day after equities hit
13-month lows, on increased worries about a major banking crisis in Europe and
expectations Greece would default
soon.
* Wall Street has fallen for the past two sessions and the broad S&P 500
index was on the verge of entering bear market territory.
* The STOXX Europe 600 Banking Index .SX7P sank 4 percent on Tuesday while
Franco-Belgian bank Dexia (DEXI.BR)
plummeted 17 percent to a record low because of its Greek exposure. European
shares tumbled 2.6 percent. .EU
* U.S. banks were likely to remain in focus and continue to be pressured by
the same issue. On Monday, Morgan Stanley (MS.N)
closed at its lowest since December 2008.
* European finance ministers were considering
making banks take bigger losses on Greek debt and delayed a vital aid payment to
Athens until mid-November, setting up a crunch point in the region's sovereign
debt crisis.
* S&P 500 futures fell 6.4 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 sank 81 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 11.5
points.
* The benchmark S&P is down 19.4 percent and near bear market territory,
which would be a 20 percent decline from its recent high set on April
29.
* Later Tuesday, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will testify
before the Joint Economic Committee in Washington on the economic outlook.
* Data on durable goods and factory orders, both for August, will also be
released at 10 a.m. EDT.
* Fast food chain operator Yum! Brands Inc (YUM.N)
is on tap to report quarterly results.
* Apple Inc (AAPL.O)
is expected to unveil a new version of its popular iPhone, hoping to fend off
hard-charging rivals running Google Inc's (GOOG.O)
Android system.
* The Dow and
S&P dropped more than 2 percent on Monday, slumping to 13-month lows in
heavy volume on fears Greece's debt woes could spark a full-blown banking crisis
in Europe. The Nasdaq fell more than 3 percent.