Stock index futures pointed to a lower open for equities on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.8 to 0.9 percent.

The following could affect the markets:

* ICSC/Goldman Sachs release chain store sales for the week ended March 3 at 1245 GMT. In the previous week, sales fell 1 percent.

* Redbook releases at 1255 GMT its Retail Sales Index of department and chain store sales for March versus February. In the prior period, sales rose 1.6 percent.

* A disorderly Greek default would probably leave Italy and Spain needing outside help to stop contagion spreading and cause more than 1 trillion euros ($1.3 trillion) of damage to the euro zone, the group representing Athens' bondholders warned.

* Private equity group KKR & Co and Chesapeake Energy Corp will form a partnership to invest in mineral and royalty interests in oil and gas assets in the United States and will initially pump in $250 million.

* Resource-related stocks will be in focus as oil prices fell in volatile trading. Key base metals prices fell 1.3 to 3.4 percent on demand concerns.

* European shares hit a one-week low on Tuesday as fresh concerns about growth in Europe and China, the world's top metals consumer, prompted investors to cut their risk exposure. The FTSEurofirst 300 <.FTEU3> index of top European shares was down 1.4 percent.

* U.S. stocks fell on Monday for the second straight session and the third in the last four trading days, led lower by basic materials shares after China trimmed its growth target for 2012.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> shed 14.76 points, or 0.11 percent, to 12,962.81. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> dipped 5.30 points, or 0.39 percent, to 1,364.33, while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 25.71 points, or 0.86 percent, to 2,950.48.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Will Waterman)

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