* CIT stock down 17 pct after bankruptcy warning
* Productivity and costs, wholesale trade data on tap
* Fed kick off 2-day monetary policy meeting
* Futures off: S&P 2.3 pts, Dow 11 pts, Nasdaq off 3.5 pts
* For up-to-the-minute market news click []
(Adds byline, quote)
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures
pointed to a lower open on Tuesday ahead of key data on
productivity and labor costs, and before the Federal Reserve
kicks off a policy meeting.
S&P 500 index futures <SPc1> were down 2.3 points, and
slightly 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> fell 11 points, while Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures
slipped 3.50 points.
CIT Group Inc <CIT.N> fell 17 percent to $1.24 in premarket
trading after the company said it would file for bankruptcy
protection if it failed to complete its debt tender or arrange
other financing. (For details, see [])
More evidence of an economic recovery could come from
productivity and unit labor costs data due at 8:30 a.m. EDT
(1230 GMT).
Economists in a Reuters survey forecast quarterly
productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, would rise
5.3 percent versus a 1.6 percent increase in the first quarter.
Unit labor costs, a gauge of inflation and profit pressures,
are seen down 2.4 percent compared with a 3.0 percent rise in
the previous quarter.
Investors are closely watching a two-day monetary policy
meeting by the U.S. Federal Reserve that kicks off Tuesday.
While interest rates are likely to remain at current levels,
the focus will be on signs of an exit strategy from the Fed's
quantitative easing policy.
"We are now at a crossroad between investors buying
consumer discretionaries and financials, thinking that we are
in a V-shaped recovery. But if that is true, we will be facing
higher interest rates and something similar to that," said Alan
Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc in Toledo,
Ohio.
Other economic data due includes the retail sales index of
department and chain store sales for August released by
Redbook. The data is due at 8:55 a.m. (1255 GMT).
The Commerce Department reports wholesale inventories for
June at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey
forecast inventories to fall by 0.9 percent in June versus a
decline of 0.8 percent in May.
Investors will get a better idea of consumer spending when
ABC News releases its consumer comfort index for the week ended
Aug. 9. In the previous week, the index read -49. The data is
due at 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT)
On the earnings front, Applied Materials Inc <AMAT.O>, the
world's largest chip equipment maker, reports third-quarter
earnings after the bell.
Stocks pointing to a lower open include Rino International
Corp <RINO.O>, off 18.2 percent after the close on Monday after
the company reported results. (For details, see
[])
Seattle Genetics <SGEN.O> shed 8.8 percent after the close
after news of a proposed public offering of common stock.
[]
Quest Software Inc <QSFT.O> rose 5.8 percent to $15.80
after the close after it posted a better-than-expected
second-quarter profit. []
Wall Street ended lower Monday after investors sold off
some equities after a four-week rally took the broad S&P 500
index to a 10-month high last week. The index is now up 48.9
percent from its 12-year closing low set on March 9.
(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
