US stock futures fall on rates worry; Univision up

NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) U.S. stock futures fell on Tuesday, signaling a weaker start on Wall Street, due to nervousness about a likely further interest rate increase at this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Adding to the market's jitters was a comment by European Central Bank Governing Council member Nicholas Garganas, who told Bloomberg News that the ECB stood ready to quicken its pace of interest rate hikes.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet also said the bank was 'permanently alert' to inflation dangers and was ready to act.

Shares of Univision Communications Inc., the largest U.S.

Spanish-language broadcaster, jumped 6 percent before the bell after the company accepted a .4 billion takeover offer.

The Fed is widely expected to lift its benchmark lending rate by a quarter percentage point to 5.25 percent on Thursday after a two-day meeting, although some in the market speculate the increase could be as much as half a point.

Higher rates are seen as negative for stocks since they cut into consumers' disposable income and raise costs for businesses.

''Today is a wait-and-see day. There's not a lot that's going to move the needle in the early going,'' said Arthur Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies&Co. in Boston.

''You are going to be hard pressed to find somebody making a large bet in front of Thursday's Fed's announcement.'' S&P 500 futures fell 3.30 points, 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 dropped 32 points and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 2.50 points.

Investors will also keep an eye on the start of confirmation hearings by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee for Goldman Sachs Chairman Henry Paulson, who was recently nominated Treasury Secretary.

Also, the National Association of Realtors releases its May report on existing home sales at 10 a.m. (1400 GMT).

The report is forecast to show a decline to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 6.6 million from a 6.8 million pace in April, according to the consensus of 67 economists.

Univision shares jumped to .95 on the Inet electronic brokerage system. Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. shares, meanwhile, slid 24.6 percent to .70, extending a slide from overnight after it said it faced a probe by a Manhattan grand jury.

REUTERS DKS ND1756