Stock index futures were little changed on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 flat, Dow Jones futures down 0.03 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.11 percent at 0930 GMT.

* All eyes will be on the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, expected to leave interest rates unchanged and assess the recent launch of a massive bond-buying program to support the economy.

* Also, Fed officials will likely be revising their economic outlook to reflect stronger growth after the White House and congressional Republicans agreed to extend tax breaks and provide a payroll tax cut, effectively delivering fresh fiscal stimulus.

* Oil prices eased on Tuesday, as investors continued to watch for new monetary policy announcements by China to tame high inflation, and ahead of U.S. oil industry stocks data.

* The dollar hovered near its low for December against the euro on Tuesday, although the single currency could struggle to extend its gains much after its jump on Monday triggered a wave of stop-loss buying and forced some traders to lighten their euro short/dollar long positions ahead of the Fed's policy meeting later on Tuesday.

* European stocks slipped in morning trade, halting a sharp two-week rally and retreating from two-year highs as investors booked a portion of recent hefty gains made by cyclical stocks. However, gains in defensive telecoms, utilities and healthcare stocks -- which have underperformed the broad market this year -- helped limit the fall.

* The European Central Bank is considering requesting an increase in its capital to help cope with the rising costs of fighting the euro zone debt crisis, euro zone central bank sources told Reuters.

* HCP Inc said on Monday it would buy most of the real estate assets of privately held nursing and assisted living firm HCR ManorCare Inc from Carlyle Group in a $6.1 billion sale and leaseback deal.

* Yahoo Inc plans to lay off more than 600 employees as early as Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation said on Monday.

* Pfizer Inc

named board member George Lorch as non executive chairman, a week after the abrupt departure of Chairman and Chief Executive Jeffrey Kindler from the world's largest drugmaker.

* Economic indicators on tap for Tuesday include November producer price data, November retail sales data and October business inventory data. Best Buy Co is the only S&P 500 company scheduled to report quarterly results on Tuesday.

* The Nasdaq closed lower to end eight straight days of gains on Monday as some large-cap tech stocks slid in a late-day sell-off. The Dow cut its gains and the S&P 500 ended a thinly traded session flat as optimism faded over China's move to tame its growth, and as some technical indicators suggested a near-term pullback could be in the cards.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 18.24 points, or 0.16 percent, to end at 11,428.56, well off its intraday high of 11,480.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> inched up a mere 0.06 of a point, or 0.00 percent, to finish at 1,240.46. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> fell 12.63 points, or 0.48 percent, to close at 2,624.91.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

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