* Alcoa beats expectations but cautions of slowdown
* Yum Brands defies China sluggish growth, raises outlook
* Futures off: Dow 37 pts, S&P 0.5 pt, Nasdaq 3.5 pts
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edgedlower on Wednesday after Alcoa kicked off earnings season bywarning of a slight slowdown in some markets, highlightingconcerns about sluggish global growth, even as its quarterlyresults beat expectations.
* Stronger demand for aluminum products from airplane andautomobile producers helped Alcoa Inc's
third-quarter
profit beat analysts expectations, but it scaled back itsglobal aluminum consumption outlook for 2012, citing theslowdown in China. Alcoa shares lost 1.4 percent to $9 in lightpremarket trade.
* China's slowdown is expected to rein in corporate earningsin the third quarter and dent profit forecasts as the world'ssecond-largest economy feels the effect of the debt crisis inthe euro zone, a key trading partner of the Asian nation.
* Earlier in the week, the World Bank cut its growthforecast for East Asia on concerns China's slowdown could lastlonger than expected.
* Analysts forecast third-quarter earnings of Wall Street'sS&P 500
companies would fall 2.3 percent from theyear-ago quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, which wouldbe the first drop in U.S. quarterly earnings in three years.
* According to data through Tuesday, 94 companies in thebenchmark S&P index have issued negative outlooks, compared with22 positive pre-announcements, for a ratio of 4.3, the weakestshowing since the third quarter of 2001.
* Going against general declines was Yum Brands Inc
,
which gained 2.1 percent to $67.42 in premarket trading. The KFCparent company had raised its full-year outlook after sales inChina held up, despite that nation's cooling economy.
* S&P 500 futures
shed 0.5 point and were slightlybelow fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by takinginto account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration onthe contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures
fell
37 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures
lost 3.5 points.
* U.S. engine maker Cummins Inc
lowered its 2012forecast for a second time this year, citing delays in customerspending due to a weakening global economy, and said it wouldcut up to 1500 jobs.
* Chevron Corp
, the second-largest U.S. oil company,warned that third-quarter profits would be "substantially lower"than in the previous quarter as a hurricane and maintenancecurbed its oil and gas output and a fire hit its refiningarm.
* Earnings from warehouse chain Costco Wholesale Corp
were a bright spot; the company reported a 27 percentjump in fourth quarter profit, on higher sales and membershipfees.
* Coming on the heels of a 2013 profit forecast that was cutlast month, FedEx Corp
said it plans to slash costs atits underperforming express air freight and services divisions,with profit improvements of $1.7 billion planned at thoseoperations over the next four years.
* Economic data expected Wednesday include wholesaleinventories for August at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT) and the FederalReserve's Beige Book of economic conditions at 2:00 p.m. (1800GMT).
* European shares were lower for a third straight session,hurt by expectations of weak corporate results that may weigh onequity markets into next month.
* Asian shares fell, with Japanese stocks sliding 2 percentto a two-month low, on concerns that the corporate resultsseason will reveal weaker earnings in the face of flaggingglobal economic growth.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
((charles.mikolajczak@thomsonreuters.com)(+1 646 2235234)(Reuters Messaging:charles.mikolajczak.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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