US Stock futures mixed ahead of Goldman and Fed

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Tuesday, as investors awaited quarterly results from embattled Goldman Sachs and an interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve.

* At 4:00 a.m. EST S&P 500 March futures were up 0.02 percent, Dow Jones futures were down 0.2 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were flat.

* Goldman Sachs is expected to report a quarterly loss of as much as $2.5 billion, hit by the falling value of many of its investments.

* The Fed is expected to lower interest rates closer to zero on Tuesday and point toward emergency tools it could deploy to end a year-long recession, with room to cut borrowing costs running out.

* Economists expect the central bank to lower its target for benchmark overnight rates by at least a half-percentage point, to 0.5 percent, and clearly state it will aggressively use unconventional measures to restore growth. The rate decision and accompanying policy statement are expected around 2:15 p.m. EST.

* Economic indicators on tap for Tuesday include the consumer price index, the measure of the average change in prices paid by consumers, as well as housing starts data from the U.S. commerce department.

* Apart from Goldman Sachs, companies reporting earnings on Tuesday include Adobe Systems and Best Buy Co Inc.

* In the latest sign of deteriorating conditions in the auto industry, truckmaker Volvo, whose brands include Renault, Nissan Diesel and Mack as well as its own name, said deliveries tumbled 21 percent year-on-year in November and that its order book was shrinking rapidly amid a sharp market contraction.

* American International Group, the insurer bailed out by the U.S. government in September, said it sold $39.3 billion of assets to a fund established by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.