Stock index futures pointed to a lower open for Wall Street on Tuesday, extending a sharp decline in the previous session, on worries about the strength of the global economic recovery.

At 0854 GMT (4:54 a.m. EDT), futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down between 0.3 and 0.4 percent.

The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of leading European shares was down 0.9 percent at 1,016.61 points, with banks among the biggest fallers.

Tokyo stocks fell 3.6 percent to a 16-month closing low on Tuesday, with disheartened investors bailing out of the market after the Bank of Japan's emergency moves the day before failed to curb the yen's strength.

U.S. home prices likely eked out a small gain in June, but a rise would represent the final tail winds of the homebuyer tax credit that ended in April rather than housing market improvement. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index likely rose 0.2 percent in June after a 0.5 percent increase in May, seasonally adjusted, according to a Reuters survey.

The Conference Board's consumer confidence index is expected to have edged up to 50.5 for August from 50.4 in July, which was the lowest reading since February.

U.S. stocks fell in the year's lightest volume on Monday as worries about the pace of economic recovery overshadowed data showing a rise in consumer spending and income.

The Federal Reserve releases minutes from its August 10 policy meeting, where it endorsed a more dovish monetary posture, citing a willingness to reinvest in monetary accommodation. The notes come on the heels of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's comments last week in which he said the economic recovery had weakened more than expected.

The Dow Jones <.DJI>, S&P 500 <.SPX> and Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> fell between 1.4 and 1.6 percent.

Hewlett-Packard Co has agreed to pay $55 million to settle kickback allegations related to federal government contracts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

(Reporting by Brian Gorman; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

Ben Bernanke