Futures dip after three days of gains; eyes on earnings

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pulled back after three straight days of gains, as the corporate earnings season was poised to kick into high gear with a slew of reports this week.

* Big banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America , are due to report results for the first quarter, providing an expected bright spot in an otherwise gloomy quarter. Profits of companies on the S&P 500 are projected to have declined 2.9 percent in the first three months from a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data.

* Apple shares edged up 0.3 percent in premarket trading after analysts said the company is likely to ramp up production of the Apple Watch after strong pre-orders outstripped supply in the first weekend following its launch.

* Qualcomm shares were up 4.8 percent after the WSJ reported that activist investor Jana Partners had asked the chipmaker to consider spinning off its chip unit from its patent-licensing business to boost its sagging stock price.

* Weak export data from China weighed on sentiment in Europe. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index <.FTEU3>, which touched its highest since 2000 on Friday, edged lower.

Futures snapshot at 7:30 a.m. EDT (1130 GMT): * S&P 500 e-minis were down 3.25 points, or 0.16 percent, with 78,452 contracts changing hands. * Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 1 points, or 0.02 percent, in volume of 11,417 contracts. * Dow e-minis <1YMc1> were down 22 points, or 0.12 percent, with 13,665 contracts changing hands.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)