Futures higher as Dow seeks to break seven-day losing streak

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were higher on Monday as the quarterly earnings season winds down and poor data out of China boosted hopes for additional stimulus from Beijing.

* Chinese producer prices in July hit their lowest point since late 2009, while exports tumbled 8.3 percent, stoking expectations of more action from the central bank after months of intervention by authorities to tame its unruly stock market.

* U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down for the seventh straight day, after solid job growth data for July pried the door open a little wider for a potential interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in September.

* The U.S. market has remained range-bound for much of 2015 in anticipation of the Fed's first rate hike in nearly 10 years.

* With 88 percent of S&P 500 companies having reported second-quarter results, aggregate profits are estimated to have increased 1.6 percent, while revenues are projected to have fallen 3.4 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.

* With many U.S. companies boosting their earnings per share by cutting costs and buying back stock instead of by growing their businesses, stock valuations remain a concern. The S&P 500 trades at 16.6 times expected earnings, higher than its 10-year median of 14.7.

* Companies scheduled to report results today include Hertz Global Holdings , Rackspace Hosting , Shake Shack and Dean Foods .

* Precision Castparts shares jumped 19.9 percent to $232.11 after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it will buy the aircraft components maker in a deal valued at about $37.2 billion, including debt.

* Rentech Nitrogen Partners soared 21.1 percent to $12.47 after ammonia maker CVR Partners said it would acquire the nitrogen fertilizer producer for about $533 million.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

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