U.S. Stock Index Futures Signal Further Losses

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.4 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.5 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.5 percent at 0841 GMT.

* The euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 <.STOXX50E> index was down 2.8 percent in morning trade, retracing more than 50 percent of its recent recovery rally, with Franco-Belgian bank Dexia plummeting 24 percent to a record low.

* Belgium's finance minister, Didier Reynders, said Belgium and France stood ready to act while, according to a Belgian newspaper report, Dexia could be split up and its good assets could be sold by the end of 2011. The bank, which was bailed out at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, has recently come under pressure over its exposure to Greece and a board meeting went on into the early hours of Tuesday in an effort to resolve its problems.

* Euro zone finance ministers are reviewing the size of the private sector's involvement in a second international bailout package for Greece, a move that could undermine the aid program and hasten the threat of a Greek default.

* Ministers also agreed after a meeting in Luxembourg that Greece could wait until mid-November to get the next installment from its existing emergency aid program, piling more pressure on the government to tackle its debt problems.

* China said it was adamantly opposed to a proposed U.S. bill aimed at forcing it to let the yuan rise, saying its passage could lead to a trade war between the world's top two economies.

* On the economic front, investors awaited August factory orders.

* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on the economic outlook before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, in Washington.

* The dollar was supported near a 9-month high against a basket of currencies on Tuesday with the market gripped by fear the debt crisis in Europe could unleash substantial damage on the global economy.

* U.S. stocks dropped to a 13-month low in heavy volume on Monday as investors dumped banking shares on fears Greece's debt woes could spark a full-blown banking crisis in Europe.

* Investors pegged losses to the sharp fall in Dexia, which sank 10 percent on Monday after a Moody's warning about its liquidity due to concerns about exposure to Greece.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> dropped 258.08 points, or 2.4 percent, to 10,655.30. The S&P 500 <.SPX> fell 32.19 points, or 2.8 percent, to 1,099.23. The Nasdaq Composite <.IXIC> lost 79.57 points, or 3.3 percent, to 2,335.83.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Dan Lalor)