u.s. stock futures down

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    * U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall
    Street on Tuesday as investors braced for aluminum producer
    Alcoa's quarterly results that will kick-start a keenly
    awaited U.S. earnings season.

    * At 0845 GMT, futures for the S&P 500 were down 0.9
    percent, Dow Jones futures were down 0.8 percent and
    Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.7 percent.

    * European shares surrendered initial gains and turned
    negative in morning trade on Tuesday, down 1.1 percent.

    * On the macro side, the Bank of Japan unveiled further
    steps to ease credit strains on Tuesday, while Australia's
    central bank cut its key cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.00
    percent, the sixth easing in eight months.

    * Toxic debts racked up by banks and insurers could spiral
    to $4 trillion, new forecasts from the International Monetary
    Fund are set to suggest, British daily The Times reported on its
    website without citing sources. The IMF said in January that it
    expected the deterioration in U.S.-originated assets to reach
    $2.2 trillion by the end of next year.

    * A half-dozen bidders have emerged for American
    International Group Inc's asset-management unit, but the
    sale of the $100 billion portfolio has become complicated by
    client withdrawals and declines in asset prices.

    * General Motors Corp's request for $10.3 billion in
    loans under a U.S. Department of Energy program is now
    contingent on the automaker's 60-day restructuring review, a top
    GM executive said on Monday. "Treasury wants to fully understand
    what our ultimate destiny is before giving us that (DOE) loan,"
    GM Vice President of Research and Development and Strategic
    Planning Larry Burns told Reuters on the sidelines of a product
    briefing on Monday.

    * Ford Motor Co said its investors agreed to exchange
    $9.9 billion in debt for cash and stock, ratcheting up the
    pressure on its struggling U.S. competitors that also are trying
    to cut debt.

    * A major client for Applied Materials Inc's solar
    production gear has slashed its order by more than 85 percent to
    $250 million, underscoring how a deepening recession is eroding
    a once red-hot solar sector. Shares in Applied Materials, that
    has been steadily expanding its solar capacity to offset slowing
    sales of its semiconductor manufacturing equipment, slid 3.1
    percent to $11.20 in after-hours trade.

    * Bank of America's Merrill Lynch said on Tuesday
    that it had recently closed the Tokyo office of Merrill Lynch
    Global Private Equity, a major international investment arm of
    the U.S bank. Sources with direct knowledge of the matter told
    Reuters that the closure of its Tokyo office was due mainly to
    lack of deal flow in Japan's private equity markets.

    * U.S. shares snapped a four-session winning run on Monday
    after a prominent analyst reignited fears over the health of
    banks and the potential collapse of a takeover of Sun
    Microsystems bruised sentiment in the technology sector. * The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 41.74 points,
    or 0.52 percent, to 7,975.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index
    <.SPX> lost 7.02 points, or 0.83 percent, to 835.48. The Nasdaq
    Composite Index <.IXIC> was down 15.16 points, or 0.93 percent,
    at 1,606.71.
 
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