Stock index futures rose on Tuesday as expectations grew that a solution will be found for Greece to avoid a default and a short-term contagion risk to other euro zone countries could be contained.

* Euro zone finance ministers said the Greek government had until July 3 to approve new steps to get the next installment of 110 billion euros in European Union and International Monetary Fund aid.

* The market expected a vote of confidence in Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou new cabinet to pass on Tuesday -- the first of three hurdles the government must clear to avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default.

* S&P 500 futures gained 5.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures advanced 39 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 8.25 points.

* The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) begins a two-day meeting later Tuesday. The Fed is expected to cut its growth forecast for 2011, but the central bank and its chairman, Ben Bernanke, will likely continue to argue the slowdown is temporary and the economy will pick in the second half of the year.

* U.S. home sales data for May is due at 10 a.m. EDT. Analysts in a Reuters survey expected sales to drop to about 4.8 million, compared with 5.05 million the month before.

* In company news, drugstore chain Walgreen Co is expected to report quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Adobe Systems Inc is set to release results after the bell, with analysts looking for a 20 percent increase in earnings per share from 44 cents a year ago.

* Research In Motion Ltd lost a second marketing executive, and its shares dropped 7 percent Monday in the latest bit bad news that has cut the BlackBerry maker's market value in half this year.

* U.S. lawmakers working to rein in the country's rising debt said they will have to make substantial progress this week to ensure the country retains its top-notch credit rating.

* Rating agency Fitch said it would place the credit rating of the United States on watch negative if the debt ceiling is not raised by August 2, when the government has warned it may not be able to borrow more.

* On Monday, stocks erased early losses as the S&P 500 dipped toward 1,259.78, its 200-day moving average, which is often viewed as a pivotal point in determining market direction.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Ben Bernanke