(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell slightly on Tuesday after a rally spurred by fading expectations of an interest rate hike this year saw the S&P 500 post its fifth advance in a row.
* Global stocks held on to meager gains on the possibility that the era of near-zero interest rates continues.
* German industrial orders fell unexpectedly in August, data released on Tuesday showed, adding to worries that waning demand, especially from China and other emerging markets, would spread across the globe.
* Crude oil prices fell slightly, before steadying near $50 per barrel, as investors booked profits from a rally on Monday that sent Brent crude prices up more than 2 percent. [O/R]
* The crude oil rally helped U.S. stocks close higher on Monday. The S&P had gained 5.6 percent over the past five days, its best five days dating back to late 2011.
* The U.S. corporate earnings season begins this week and S&P 500 companies are expected to record the biggest decline in quarterly profits in six years.
* Analysts expect S&P 500 companies to report a 4.2 percent decline in earnings in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* Shares of Pepsi rose 3 percent to $98.71 premarket after it reported better-than-expected third-quarter results and raised its forecast for the year.
* DuPont rose roughly 5 percent to $53.89 after the company said CEO Ellen Kullman would step down.
* PMC-Sierra jumped 31.2 percent to $10.09 after Apple supplier Skyworks said it would buy the chipmaker for $2 billion. Skyworks was up 2 percent at $83.50.
* Yum Brands reports results after the close.
* Data on Tuesday is expected to show U.S. trade gap widened to $47.4 billion in August, after shrinking to a five-month low of $41.9 billion in July. The data from the Commerce Department is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).
* San Francisco Federal Reserve President John Williams is scheduled to speak on economic outlook at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Futures snapshot at 6:55 a.m. ET:
* S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.5 points, or 0.23 percent, with 136,802 contracts traded.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 12.5 points, or 0.29 percent, on volume of 22,401 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were down 27 points, or 0.16 percent, with 26,475 contracts changing hands.
