US STOCKS-Wall St to open higher after 2-day drop, Alcoa results

* Alcoa up in premarket after results

* Oil falls near 6-year low

* Futures up: Dow 92 pts, S&P 10 pts, Nasdaq 24.75 pts (Adds quote)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were poised for a higher open on Tuesday after the S&P 500 fell for a second consecutive session, as financial results from Alcoa helped ease some investor jitters regarding the corporate earnings season.

Alcoa Inc gained 1.9 percent to $ 16.48 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 on Monday. 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.

“At present, equities remain an earnings driven market which is held hostage by oil,” said Terry Sandven, senior equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Minneapolis.

“On a positive note, while crude oil prices are weighing on earnings expectations for the broad market they are bolstering consumer sentiment and adding to discretionary income levels.”

S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 10 points and fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract, indicated a higher open. Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures rose 92 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures added 24.75 points.

Financials including JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Citigroup Inc are among the companies 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 3.6 percent at $ 45.74, while U.S. crude was off 2.6 percent at $ 44.87. Transocean shares were down 1 percent at $ 15.35 in premarket trading.

KB Home gained 4.4 percent to $ 17.30 before the opening bell after the homebuilder posted fourth-quarter results.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber lost 2.8 percent to $ 27.25 after the company gave its outlook for 2015 and authorized a $ 450 million share repurchase plan.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Nick Zieminski)