Stock futures signal slight gains

NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.25 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.16 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.04 percent at 0820 GMT.

* News Corp will be in the spotlight after BSkyB rejected its proposal to buy the rest of the company News Corps doesn't already own in a deal that would value BSkyB at about $19 billion, but said it would recommend a higher offer.

* BP Plc's U.S. chief faces accusations in Congress on Tuesday that the energy giant caused the worst oil spill in U.S. history with a calculated strategy to cut costs, hours before President Barack Obama uses a televised address to defend his handling of the disaster. U.S. lawmakers will ask Lamar McKay why BP made repeated choices that appeared to favor cost savings over safety before its rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico.

* McKay, the head of BP America, will be surrounded at the congressional hearings by executives from Exxon Mobil , Chevron , ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell seeking to stave off repercussions for the industry.

* The global economic recovery is likely to be "slow and tortuous" and China faces risks from a multitude of factors including trade protectionism and bad real estate loans, China's Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said on Tuesday.

* On the macro front, the New York Federal Reserve releases its Empire State Manufacturing Survey for June at 1230 GMT, while the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo issues its June housing market index at 1400 GMT.

* Hershey Co plans to cut 500 to 600 jobs, or up to 5 percent of its workforce, as part of a restructuring aimed at upgrading and enlarging its facilities to compete globally and save some $60 million to $80 million in annual costs.

* Callaway Golf Co shares dropped 11.2 percent to $6.75 in extended trade on Monday after the company gave guidance for the second quarter.

* Tenet Healthcare Corp shares gained 3.4 percent to $5.23 in extended trade on Monday after the company boosted its 2010 adjusted EBITDA view by $50 million and forecast 2010 earnings between 27 cents to 40 cents a share.

* American Tower is one of the three firms in talks to buy the telecoms tower unit of Reliance Communications , India's No. 2 cellular carrier, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday.

* U.S. stocks ended little changed in a low-volume session on Monday after a downgrade of Greece's debt took the wind out of the market's sails.

* The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> slipped 20.18 points, or 0.20 percent, to 10,190.89. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> shed 1.97 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,089.63. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> inched up just 0.36 of a point, or 0.02 percent, to 2,243.96.

(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Mike Nesbit)