By Barbara Kollmeyer U.S. stock market futures fell amid a risk-off environment on Tuesday, with commodity prices slipping and China in focus after the government raised oil prices and a mining executive said iron-ore demand from the country was flattening out. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 60 points to 13107. S&P 500 Index futures declined 8 points to 1396, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 13 points to 2714.75. Fears of a slowdown in China were on the minds of investors. The Stoxx Europe 600 index fell 0.6% to 270.46, with mining stocks leading the way south after Ian Ashby, president of BHP's iron ore division, told reporters in Australia that he saw waning demand from China for the commodity as the economy cools. Meanwhile, news that China's National Development and Reform Commission raised retail gasoline and diesel prices for the second time this year weighed on auto stocks in Europe. Shares of BMW AG (BMW.XE) fell over 4% in Frankfurt. Commodity prices were also lower across the board amid pressure from China worries. Crude-oil futures for April delivery fell nearly $1 to $107.17 a barrel ahead of weekly inventory reports later in the day. Saudi Arabia also reportedly said Monday it stood ready to cover any shortfalls of crude supplies. Gold futures for April delivery fell $19 to $1,648 an ounce, while the dollar rebounded. The ICE U.S. dollar index, a measure of the dollar's performance against six major global rivals, climbed to 79.557 from 79.451 in North American trade late Monday. Wall Street stocks posted modest gains on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 6.51 points, or 0.1%, to 13239.13. The Nasdaq Composite was the real star of the day, up 23.06 points, or 0.8%, to 3078.32, its highest close since Nov. 15, 2000, after Apple Inc. (AAPL) said it would start paying a quarterly dividend in its fourth quarter. Technology stocks will remain in focus for Tuesday. Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) could come under pressure after announcing late Monday a 21% fall in fiscal first-quarter profit amid write-downs and weaker product sales. Shares of Focus Media Holding Ltd. (FMCN) could rise after climbing in after-hours trading following fourth-quarter results. Data for Tuesday includes U.S. housing starts for February, due at 8:30 a.m., EDT. Chairman Ben Bernanke will deliver the first of four lectures starting at 12:45 p.m., EDT at the George Washington School of Business. -By Barbara Kollmeyer; 34 91 395 8131; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

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