Stock index futures off on China worries, France caution

S&P 500 stock index futures eased modestly on Tuesday after a Moody's warning on France's credit rating and a slowdown in China's growth revived concerns over a worsening debt crisis in Europe and a hard landing for Asian economies.

* Adding to market anxiety, International Business Machines Corp's quarterly results failed to impress investors used to a robust showing from the technology bellwether. That added to worries over lackluster corporate information technology spending. IBM shares fell 4.6 percent to $178 in premarket trade.

* China's economic growth slowed in the third quarter to its weakest pace since early 2009. Gross domestic product rose 9.1 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, but was down from 9.5 percent in the previous period.

* Moody's cautioned it may slap a negative outlook on France's Aaa credit rating in the next three months if the costs for helping to bail out banks and other euro zone members stretch its budget too much.

* Growth concerns in China along with renewed euro debt concerns are bringing some hesitation into the futures market, said Andre Bakhos, director of market analytics at Lek Securities in New York. However, investors are looking for some key earnings reports that could change investor perception.

* S&P 500 futures fell 3.9 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 21 points, but Nasdaq 100 futures rose 11.25 points.

* Investors awaited September's Producer Price Index, due at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

* Corporate earnings remained in high gear, with results coming early Tuesday from Bank of America Corp .

* Results are also due from Apple Inc , Intel Corp , Goldman Sachs Group Inc , and Johnson & Johnson.

* U.S. planemaker Boeing Co predicted more sales cancellations for its delayed Dreamliner 787 after a Chinese airline scrapped 24 orders, but said the overall order book for the new long-range aircraft remained strong.

* U.S. stocks suffered their worst loss in two weeks on Monday after comments from Germany's finance minister renewed investor fears over Europe.

(Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)