Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 down 0.3 to 0.7 percent.

ICSC/Goldman Sachs release at 1245 GMT chain store sales for the week ended November 12. In the previous week, sales rose 1.0 percent.

The Labor Department releases at 1330 GMT the October Producer Price Index. Economists forecast a fall of 0.1 percent versus a 0.8 percent rise in September. Excluding volatile food and energy items, PPI is expected to rise 0.1 percent versus a 0.2 percent increase in the prior month.

Wall Street expects Wal-Mart's quarterly profit to climb to 98 cents per share from 90 cents and is looking for the leading retailer to shed light on consumer spending habits. Other companies announcing results include Dell and Home Depot .

The Commerce Department releases at 1330 GMT October retail sales. Economists expect an increase of 0.3 percent in October versus a 1.1 percent rise in September. Excluding automobiles, sales are expected to increase 0.1 percent versus a 0.6 percent rise in September.

The U.S. Federal Housing Administration's cash reserves have dropped so low that there is a close to a 50 percent chance it could run out of funds and may require a taxpayer bailout next year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing an annual independent audit of the agency's finances.

New York Federal Reserve releases at 1330 GMT its Empire State Manufacturing Survey for November. Economists expect a reading of minus 2.10 compared with minus 8.48 in October.

At 1355 GMT, Redbook releases its Retail Sales Index of department and chain store sales for November versus October. In the prior period, sales rose 1.4 percent.

The Commerce Department issues Business Inventories data for September at 1500 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey expected a rise of 0.1 percent versus a 0.5 percent rise in the prior month.

Bank of America's sale of most of its shares in China Construction Bank earned the U.S. lender a tidy profit, but also underlined that BofA, like other foreign financial groups, found scant strategic gain in the Chinese stake it built.

Huawei Technologies , the world's No.2 telecoms equipment maker, plans to buy the remaining 49 percent stake in a joint venture with Symantec Corp that it does not already own for $530 million to bolster its corporate security solutions business.

European stocks <.FTEU3> fell 1.2 percent on Tuesday, adding to the previous session's drop, as investors continued to fret about southern European countries' ability to tackle their debt problems and prevent borrowing costs from rising.

Prime Minister-designate Mario Monti meets the leaders of Italy's biggest two parties on Tuesday to discuss the many sacrifices needed to reverse a collapse in market confidence that is driving an ever-deepening euro zone debt crisis.

U.S. stocks fell on Monday as rising bond yields in Italy and other euro-zone countries reminded investors that despite changes in governments, the region's debt crisis could still spin out of control.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 74.70 points, or 0.61 percent, to 12,078.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> fell 12.07 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,251.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> lost 21.53 points, or 0.80 percent, to 2,657.22.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by David Holmes)