Stock index futures pointed to a lower opening on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.27 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.23 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.23 percent.

White House adviser Paul Volcker will urge Congress to curb the risks taken by large banks to help prevent them from being treated as too big to fail, according to testimony obtained by Reuters on Monday.

On the macro front, investors awaited data on pending home sales, ahead of all-important monthly U.S. payroll data due on Friday, while on the earnings side, Pepsi Bottling

, Dow Chemical Co , United Parcel Service, Whirlpool Corp and News Corp feature among the companies due to report results on Tuesday.

Resource-related shares will be in the spotlight after British oil major BP Plc reported a lower than forecast 33 percent rise in fourth-quarter replacement cost profit on Tuesday and cautioned investors that an operational turnaround could slow this year, sending its shares down 4 percent.

Three U.S. private equity firms have been shortlisted in the final round of bidding for Morgan Stanley's more than $1 billion stake in China International Capital Corp, a holding the Wall Street bank has been trying to sell since late 2007.

Shares in Barnes & Noble Inc jumped more than 13 percent to $20.50 after the bell on Monday following news that Yucaipa American Management had asked to increase its stake in the bookseller to 37 percent without triggering a poison pill.

Oil prices pared gains on Tuesday as the dollar strengthened, with the market's attention turning to forecasts for steady U.S. crude inventories after prices topped $75 earlier on optimism about the economy.

Japan's Nikkei average <.N225> rose 1.6 percent on Tuesday, with Toyota Motor Corp <7203.T> jumping after detailing plans of its fix for recalled vehicles, while European stocks slipped in early trade, reversing a two-session tentative recovery from the market's sharpest bout of selling in a year, as BP's results hit energy shares.

U.S. stocks rose on Monday as better than expected data on the manufacturing sector and earnings from Exxon Mobil revived some bullish sentiment after stocks closed out their worst month in almost a year.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shot up 118.20 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 10,185.53. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> gained 15.32 points, or 1.43 percent, at 1,089.19. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 23.85 points, or 1.11 percent, at 2,171.20.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Japan Investment Fall