Stock index futures indicated a higher open for Wall Street on Tuesday after Alcoa , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, kicked off the earnings season by beating forecasts.

* At 2:53 a.m. EST, futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were all up 0.1 percent.

* The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of leading European shares was up 0.5 percent at 1,139.05 points. Banks rose, recovering ground lost in the previous session.

* Oil steadied above $89 per barrel, paring early gains on expectations a key Alaskan pipeline would resume operations within a few days.

* The Malaysian unit of Exxon Mobil will invest 10 billion ringgit ($3.2 billion) in new oil and gas assets in the southeast Asian country, the government said.

* U.S. wholesale inventories for November will be reported on an otherwise light day for economic indicators. Inventories were expected to gain 1.0 percent, after a 1.9 percent rise in October. Estimates for November ranged from 0.5-2.0 percent in a Reuters poll.

* Chevron , the second-largest U.S. oil company, was set to give an early look at its fourth-quarter production numbers, along with an indication of how quarterly results will look compared with the third quarter. Last month, Chevron said it would spend $4 billion to develop its Big Foot project in the Gulf of Mexico, even as tougher rules and higher costs loom for deepwater operators.

* Homebuilder Lennar is among companies reporting.

* On Monday, U.S. stocks recovered most of their early losses in light volume and to end slightly lower as prospects for strong earnings helped counter worries Portugal would be forced into a bailout.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> fell 0.3 percent; the Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dipped 0.1 percent; the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> gained 0.2 percent.

* Alcoa unofficially began the earnings season after the closing bell by posting a fourth-quarter profit that topped forecasts. Its shares fell 1.3 percent in after-hours trading.

* Stryker was up 2.4 percent in after-hours trading after its results.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Dan Lalor)

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