* China to raise banks' reserve requirements
* Bernanke hits back at Fed critics
* Del Monte shares rally on KKR deal report
* Futures down: Dow 41 pts, S&P 4.8 pts, Nasdaq 5.25 pts
By Ryan Vlastelica
NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday after China's central bank took steps to battle inflation.
* The People's Bank of China said it will raise bank reserve requirements for the second time in two weeks, stepping up its fight to rein in prices.
* Concerns about the effects of China inflation along with debt woes in Europe have pressured equities in recent weeks. A possible resolution to Ireland's debt crisis sparked a big rally on Thursday.
* Despite those gains, the S&P 500 hovered around 1,200 for most of the session but failed to hold above the key level and could mean the index trades in a tight range for the rest of the year.
* Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke hit back at critics of the U.S. central bank's controversial bond-buying program and issued a thinly veiled attack on China's policy of keeping its currency depressed. The comments were prepared for a conference at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt Friday.
* S&P 500 futures fell 4.8 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 slid 41 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 5.25 points.
* Del Monte Foods Co rose 8.2 percent to $17 in premarket trading after sources said private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co was in advanced talks to buy the company.
* Dell Inc rose 4.3 percent to $14.26 before the bell after the computer maker raised its profit view and reported quarterly margins that easily topped estimates late Thursday.
* H.J. Heinz Co is the only S&P 500 company scheduled to report results Friday.
* Aeroflex Holding Corp, which provides radio frequency and microwave integrated circuits for wireless communication systems, priced an initial public offering at the low end of a planned range on Thursday .
* The IPO comes a day after General Motors Co returned to Wall Street with the biggest IPO in U.S. history. The stock rallied Thursday, but dipped 4 cents to $34.15 in premarket trading.
* The Economic Cycle Research Institute releases its weekly index of economic activity at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT). In the prior week the index read 123.9.