Stock futures lower as commodities slide

[October 20, 2015]  By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as prices of commodities fell on rekindled worries about demand from China.

* Investors are awaiting a barrage of quarterly results and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.

* Third-quarter company earnings are in full focus this week with Verizon <VZ.N>, Yahoo <YHOO.O> and VMware <VMW.N> reporting results on Tuesday.

* Investors are pricing in tepid corporate performance for the quarter and watching out for outlook commentary as the effects of global financial turbulence hits American shores.

* S&P 500 companies are expected to show a 3.9 percent fall in third-quarter profit, according to Thomson Reuters data.

* U.S. stocks closed with slight gains on Monday as tech and biotech stocks advanced ahead of a heavy week of earnings.

* Brent crude fell on Tuesday but steadied around $48 a barrel and London copper prices slipped to two-week lows straining under an economic slowdown in China.

* Exxon's shares were down 1.8 percent at $80.99 premarket.

* IBM <IBM.N> fell 4.7 percent to $142.15 a day after it reported a bigger-than-expected fall in quarterly revenue and cut its full-year profit forecast.

* Sandisk jumped 8.1 percent to $77.82 after a Reuters report said Western Digital was in advanced talks to buy the memory chipmaker, citing people familiar with the matter.

* Yum Brands rose 4.3 percent to $74.76 after the fast food group said it was preparing to separate its China business.

* Travelers rose 0.6 percent to $107.00 after it reported a rise in third-quarter profit. * Data on housing starts is scheduled for release on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. ET. The data is expected to show 1.15 million units were started in September, up from the 1.13 million units in August.

* Yellen speaks at 11:00 a.m. ET. Fed Board Governor Jerome Powell is also scheduled to speak on Tuesday.

Futures snapshot at 6:43 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 7 points, or 0.35 percent, with 84,232 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis  were down 12.5 points, or 0.28 percent, on volume of 13,227 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 60 points, or 0.35 percent, with 11,349 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)

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