Stock futures slightly lower as investors pause after rally

[November 03, 2015]  By Abhiram Nandakumar

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were slightly lower on Tuesday as investors paused a day after a rally in energy and healthcare stocks pushed the Nasdaq 100 to a 15-year high.

* Global stocks declined slightly as European shares reeled as Volkswagen's emissions scandal widened to include Porsche and Audi.

* U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, following the best monthly performance of the major indexes in four years in October.

* Kellogg is scheduled to report before the bell and CBS, Groupon <GRPN.O> and Tesla will post results after the close.

* Data is expected to show new orders for U.S. factory goods fell 0.9 percent in September from August. The data is due at 10:00 a.m. ET.

* U.S. automakers will also release October sales numbers.

* As the U.S. earnings seasons winds down, investors are looking to economic data, including this Friday's employment report, for clues as to whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates when it meets in December.

* Strong results from blue-chips have helped lift sentiment, with S&P 500 companies now expected to report a 0.9 percent fall in profit, compared with the 4.9 percent drop forecast before earnings season began, according to Thomson Reuters data.

* Of the 352 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 71 percent have beaten profit estimates, compared with 63 percent in a typical quarter.

* AIG's shares fell 3.1 percent to $61.77 premarket after the insurer's quarterly profit missed estimates by a wide margin.

* King Digital soared 14.4 percent to $17.77 after Activision Blizzard  agreed to buy the "Candy Crush Saga" creator for $5.9 billion. Activision fell 4.4 percent, while Zynga  rose 5.4 percent.

* Sprint fell 4.5 percent to $4.63 after the carrier reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss.

* Fitbit fell 8 percent to $37.55 after the wearable fitness device maker agreed to lift lockup restrictions on over 2 million shares more than month before scheduled and announced a 21 million share offering.

Futures snapshot at 7:12 a.m. ET:

* S&P 500 e-minis  were down 5.25 points, or 0.25 percent, with 82,906 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis  were down 12 points, or 0.26 percent, on volume of 13,701 contracts.

* Dow e-minis  were down 33 points, or 0.19 percent, with 11,352 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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