US STOCKS-Futures off as investors cautious on earnings

                                
 * Altria posts better-than-expected profit
                                
 * Geithner to speak later Wednesday
                                
 * Futures down: S&P 3.50 pts, Dow 33 pts, Nasdaq 3.50 pts
                                
 * For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]
 (Adds details, byline)
                                
 By Leah Schnurr
                                
 NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures
pointed to a lower open on Wednesday as cautious investors
awaited another round of earnings results and comments from
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
                                
 Investors will be focused on any remarks on the state of
the economy and financial system from Geithner, who is due to
speak at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) on the Obama administration's
efforts to address the recession.
                                
 Geithner indicated on Tuesday that most banks have
sufficient reserves to protect against possible losses,
sparking a rebound in bank shares and pushing Wall Street
higher.
                                
 Another round of results will be scrutinized for any signs
that corporations are seeing the economic slump abating. Banks
will be in focus as Morgan Stanley <MS.N> and Wells Fargo & Co
<WFC.N> report later in the morning.
                                
 Wells Fargo preannounced earlier this month that it expects
to post a record $3 billion profit in the quarter.
                                
 Keeping the spotlight on the financial sector, U.S. banks
will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they
performed in government "stress tests," and the results will be
made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing
government officials.
                                
 "There's a little cautiousness ahead of the major earnings,
but the market doesn't look like it's ready to fall apart,"
said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Avalon Partners
in New York. "There's also nervousness about the stress tests
and perhaps revisiting Geithner's words from yesterday."
                                
 S&P 500 futures <SPc1> fell 3.50 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 <DJc1> lost 33
points, and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures were off 3.50 points.
                                
 Altria Group Inc <MO.N> reported better-than-expected
profits on Wednesday as higher prices offset a drop in
cigarette shipments. (For details, see [ID:nN22413495].
                                
 Other heavy hitters due to report results include Apple Inc
<AAPL.O>, McDonald's Corp <MCD.N>, eBay Inc <EBAY.O> and
Qualcomm Inc <QCOM.O>.
                                
 Shares of Yahoo Inc <YHOO.O> could add support to
technology shares after the Internet company said it would cut
5 percent of its global workforce and its quarterly results
showed progress towards controlling costs. [ID:nN21506492]).
                                
 Yahoo was up 2.9 percent at $14.80 before the opening.
                                
 Citigroup Inc <C.N> named Jane Fraser as the new chief
executive of its private bank and Deepak Sharma as chairman,
the latest moves by the U.S. bank to reorganize its business
that caters to rich clients.
                                
 The broad S&P 500 index is up more than 25 percent from the
early March bear market low after racking up a six-week rally.
 (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)