US STOCKS-Futures higher after 2-day decline, Alcoa results
* Alcoa up in premarket after results
* Oil falls near 6-year low
* Futures up: Dow 81 pts, S&P 8.5 pts, Nasdaq 20.5 pts (Adds premarket actives)
By Chuck Mikolajczak
NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures climbed on Tuesday after the S&P 500 fell for a second consecutive session, as financial results from Alcoa helped ease some investor skittishness about the corporate earnings season.
* Alcoa Inc gained 1.1 percent to $16.35 before the opening bell. The company reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit due to a boost from automotive demand, higher aluminum prices and lower energy costs.
* Another sharp decline in energy shares as oil prices tumbled about 5 percent and growing concern over corporate profits sent equities lower for a second straight day. The benchmark S&P index has fallen in seven of the past nine sessions and is down 3 percent from its most recent record high on Dec. 29.
* Financials including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc are among the companies also due to report this week, along with Dow component Intel Corp.
* Fourth-quarter earnings are expected to show growth of 3.8 percent over the year-earlier period, according to Thomson Reuters data.
* Shares of energy companies are likely to be under pressure again as oil prices continued to stumble. Brent and U.S. crude touched their lowest levels in almost six years as a big OPEC producer stood by the group's decision not to cut output to tackle a glut in the market.
* Brent was last down 3.5 percent at $45.75, while U.S. crude was off 3 percent at $44.67. Transocean shares were down 1.2 percent at $15.33 in premarket trading.
* CTIC Biopharma Corp shares jumped 9.6 percent to $2.52 before the opening bell after the company forecast 2015 revenue between $55 million and $72 million, well above the Wall Street estimate. The stock was the most active on the Nasdaq in premarket trading, with volume of nearly 370,000 shares, about one-third of its 10-day average volume.
Futures snapshot at 8:08 a.m. (1308 GMT):
* S&P 500 e-minis were up 8.5 points, or 0.42 percent, with 171,777 contracts changing hands.
* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 20.5 points, or 0.49 percent, in volume of 27,600 contracts.
* Dow e-minis were up 81 points, or 0.46 percent, with 26,550 contracts changing hands.
(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
