European Stock Index Futures Point To Lower Start

At 0706 GMT, futures for the Eurostoxx 50, Germany's DAX and the French CAC 40 were down between 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent.

European stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Tuesday after UBS posted a huge fourth quarter loss and U.S. stock futures were hit by a report the U.S. Treasury had dropped plans for a "bad bank".

At 0706 GMT, futures for the Eurostoxx 50, Germany's DAX and the French CAC 40 were down between 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent. The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares rose 0.5 percent to close at 830.08 points in the previous session, its highest close since Jan. 13.

Swiss bank UBS reported a loss of 8.1 billion francs for the fourth quarter, compared with a Reuters poll forecast of 7.1 billion. It said the environment would remain difficult.