US STOCKS-Futures point to higher open on tech results

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK, Oct 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 on track for a fourth straight session of gains, as Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) and Texas Instruments rallied after their results.

The results implied outsized gains for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index, while the Dow was also higher as several of its components reported results.

The S&P 500 has gained 2.2 percent over the past three sessions, rebounding after a four-week decline that took the benchmark index down nearly 10 percent from its intraday record.

Apple Inc rose 2.7 percent to $102.43 in heavy premarket trading a day after it reported revenue that topped expectations, helped by strong sales of its iPhone line. It also gave a strong outlook for the holiday quarter.

Chipmaker Texas Instruments' revenue beat forecasts, easing concerns about weak industry demand following IBM (NYSE: IBM - news) 's results. Texas Instruments (NasdaqGS: TXN - news) stock rose 2.2 percent to $45.40 before the bell.

United Technologies Corp rose 2.5 percent to $104.01 before the bell after the Dow component's adjusted earnings topped expectations by a penny. Fellow Dow component Travelers Cos Inc also reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly operating profit. The stock rose 1.4 percent to $94.49.

On the downside, Dow components Coca-Cola Co, McDonald's Corp and Verizon Communications (Xetra: 868402 - news) all fell following their results, with Coca-Cola and McDonald's both reporting drops in their profits. Coca-Cola fell 4.8 percent to $41.23 while McDonald's lost 2 percent to $89.80.

Also lower was Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG - news) , down 4.6 percent to $623 a day after signaling its current pace of growth couldn't last forever.

While earnings have largely come in strong so far this quarter, concerns continue to swirl over the pace of global economic growth. An index of shares in China fell 0.7 percent after the country's gross domestic product grew 7.3 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2009, during the financial crisis.

Despite the strength over the past week, Wall Street has yet to recover from its recent pullback, which was driven by concerns over global growth.

The S&P closed below its 200-day moving average for the sixth straight session on Monday and appeared to find resistance at that level. The CBOE Volatility index, a measure of investor anxiety, fell 15.5 percent on Monday and closed below its 14-day moving average. It had jumped 51 percent over the previous two weeks.

Futures snapshot at 8:47:

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.75 points, or 0.46 percent, with 409,245 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were gaining 29.25 points, or 0.76 percent, in volume of 63,571 contracts.

* Dow e-minis were up 46 points, or 0.28 percent, with 52,224 contracts changing hands. (Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Nick Zieminski)