Wall Street to open higher after three-day slump, earnings

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were poised for a higher open on Tuesday, putting the S&P 500 on track to snap its worst three-day drop since November 2011, as investors turned their focus away from global growth concerns and toward corporate earnings.

JPMorgan Chase shares lost 1.8 percent to $57.13 in premarket, after the biggest U.S. bank posted third-quarter earnings. The results were released earlier than anticipated on an investment website ahead of its official release on Tuesday.

Fellow banks Citigroup gained 2.2 percent to $51 while Wells Fargo declined 1.2 percent to $49.59 after posting quarterly results.

Johnson & Johnson shares were up 1.6 percent to $100.69 in premarket trade after the diversified healthcare company reported better than expected quarterly earnings.

"I?m not sure the earnings have to be unbelievably strong but simply just reflecting some growth would help blunt the momentum of the market moving down," said Rick Meckler, president of investment firm LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

"These upcoming weeks of earnings releases will move the market away from a broad-based up and down movement and have it more focused on specific names and specific industries."

The benchmark S&P closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 16, 2012 on Monday and is now down 6.8 percent from its record closing high on September 18 on concerns global economic weakness could hurt U.S. earnings and worries about the potential spread of Ebola.

The CBOE Volatility index <.VIX> ended Monday's session at 24.64, its highest close since June 2012.

S&P 500 companies are expected to show earnings growth of 6.4 percent in the third quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data, with revenue growth expected at 4 percent. After the close, Dow component and chipmaker Intel is set to post results.

* S&P 500 e-minis were up 10.25 points, or 0.55 percent, with 475,769 contracts changing hands.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were gaining 25.5 points, or 0.67 percent, in volume of 58,212 contracts.

* Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were up 59 points, or 0.36 percent, with 63,834 contracts changing hands.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

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