(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.27 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.18 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.25 percent.
Media conglomerate Time Warner Inc (TWX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Monday it will spin off its AOL unit to shareholders on December 9, nine tumultuous years after one of the most disastrous corporate mergers in history.
Qualcomm (QCOM.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's biggest chip maker, said on Tuesday that it expects to sell its TD-SCDMA chips in China within the next year.
Nortel Networks Corp (NRTLQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted a $508 million third-quarter loss on Monday as its finances were hit by customer uncertainty over its bankruptcy protection proceedings and the tough economy.
GMAC Chief Executive Al de Molina has resigned, and will be replaced by Michael Carpenter, the troubled lender said on Monday.
Companies announcing results on Tuesday include Home Depot Inc (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Target Corp. (TGT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Autodesk (ADSK.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Salesforce.com (CRM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Investors awaited U.S. monthly producer prices data, due at 1330 GMT.
Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Investor George Soros's hedge fund reported holdings of $6.2 billion during the third quarter, an increase of $2 billion, after taking a stake in Ford (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and boosting his holdings in communications services stocks.
CIT Group Inc (CITGQ.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the U.S. consumer finance company, on Monday posted a $1.07 billion loss for the third quarter, the last full three-month period prior to its Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing.
Coca-Cola Co (KO.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unveiled goals on Monday that call for the revenue generated by the company and its bottlers to double to roughly $200 billion by 2020, with profit margins increasing.
The chief financial officer of Playboy Enterprises Inc (PLA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Linda Havard, resigned on Monday, effective at the end of the year, the company said. Separately, Golden Gate Capital said in a statement that it "is not and will not be involved in any way with any potential acquisition of Playboy Enterprises, Inc."
After the closing bell on Monday shares in Sunpower (SPWRA.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) declined 8.2 percent after news of an internal accounting investigation.
SVB Financial Group's (SIVB.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) shares tumbled 9.4 percent to $38.80 in extended trade on Monday after the company said it plans to offer about $300 million in common stock.
Oil prices fell on Tuesday, but clung to most of their previous session gains of 3 percent, hovering near $79 a barrel as traders took profits ahead of the release of key U.S. indicators and a weekly fuel inventories report.
The dollar was off 15-month lows on Tuesday but its broad downtrend still looked intact after senior Federal Reserve officials reinforced a view that rates would be low for a while.
Japan's Nikkei average .N225 edged down 0.6 percent on Tuesday, with exporters such as Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) weighed on by a strong yen, while European shares retreated from a 13-month closing high and snapped a four-day winning run, with commodity stocks leading the losers as investors pocketed gains in raw material prices.
U.S. stocks rose broadly on Monday, sending indexes to fresh 13-month closing highs, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke reinforced expectations that interest rates would stay low to spur growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI gained 136.49 points, or 1.33 percent, to 10,406.96. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX shot up 15.82 points, or 1.45 percent, to 1,109.30 -- its first close above the psychologically important 1,100 level since October 2008.
The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC jumped 29.97 points, or 1.38 percent, to 2,197.85. The benchmark S&P 500 is now up 64 percent since the 12-year closing low of March 9.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
