* Apple, IBM slide after earnings
* Goldman, Coca-Cola results expected
* Futures down: Dow 31 pts; S&P 7 pts; Nasdaq 24 pts
NEW YORK, Oct 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Tuesday as technology titans Apple and IBM disappointed investors and raised doubts about the strength of earnings in the third quarter.
* Apple Inc's shares, which hit a lifetime high on Monday, fell more than 5 percent in premarket trade and ripped a hole through Nasdaq futures overnight after it reported its iPad shipments came in below expectations and it issued a conservative outlook for the current quarter..
* International Business Machines Corp said it won fewer technology services deals than expected in the third quarter, sending its shares 3.4 percent lower premarket, although it announced stronger profits and raised its full-year outlook..
* Results from Bank of America Corp gave brief support to equities, helping futures pare losses, but shares of the largest U.S. bank by assets dropped more than 2 percent after its third-quarter net loss quadrupled from a year ago..
* Further weighing on stocks, China's central bank said on Tuesday it will raise its benchmark one-year lending and deposit rate by 25 basis points, effective Oct. 20. Any signal that China is trying to cool its economy hampers equities.
* All eyes remained on corporate earnings, with Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Yahoo Inc, Coca-Cola Co, Johnson & Johnson and State Street Corp among the companies expected to report throughout the day.
* S&P 500 futures dropped 7 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures fell 31 points and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 24 points.
* U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner vowed on Monday that the United States would not devalue the dollar for export advantage, saying no country could weaken its currency to gain economic health..
* Ray Ozzie, the Microsoft Corp executive who took over the role of chief software architect from Bill Gates, is to step down, following a tenure in which the Windows-maker lost ground to Google and Apple.
* A number of Federal Reserve officials will be speaking on Tuesday, including Chairman Ben Bernanke's brief remarks at 4 p.m. (2000 GMT).
* The U.S. Commerce Department releases housing starts and building permits for September at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast a 580,000 annualized housing starts rate versus 598,000 in August, and a total of 580,000 permits in September compared with 571,000 in the prior month.
* U.S. stocks advanced on Monday as stronger-than-expected profit from Citigroup Inc helped financial shares shake off worries that an investigation into foreclosures could threaten the stability of the housing market.