Futures drop with oil prices

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

REUTERS - U.S. stock index futures were lower on Friday, a day after Wall Street rallied about 1 percent and as oil prices dropped due to concerns of oversupply.

* The count down to the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting starting Tuesday has begun and while traders have very low expectations of an interest rate hike, investors will be keen for commentary on the recent blast of lackluster economic data.

* Contrasting comments from Fed officials on rate hikes have contributed in no small measure to the oscillations and increased volatility in U.S. stocks in the past few days.

* Volatility may rise again on as Friday, which marks the quadruple witching day, a day when investors unwind interests in futures and options contracts prior to expiration.

* News overnight that the Department of Justice had fined Deutsche Bank a far bigger-than-expected $14 billion to settle claims it missold mortgage-backed securities is likely to weigh on Wall Street banks as they are doing on European financials.

* Deutsche Bank's U.S.-listed shares were down 8.2 percent in premarket trading. Barclays, UBS, Credit Suisse and RBS were down between 3.3 percent and 5.5 percent.

* Exxon was down 1.9 percent at $83.48 after the Wall Street Journal said the New York Attorney General was investigating the company's accounting practices.

* Apple, which has rallied for four days and been the one bright spot in the market on strong demand for its new iPhones, was flat at $115.50. The new phones hit stores on Friday.

* Oracle dropped 3.3 percent to $39.50 after the company forecast lower-than-expected quarterly profit.

* Depomed soared 13 percent after sources told Reuters the drug maker is preparing to put itself up for sale.

* A report from the U.S. Labor Department is expected to show that the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent in August after being flat in July. The data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT).

Futures snapshot at 7:31 a.m. ET:

* Dow e-minis were down 79 points, or 0.44 percent, with 22,708 contracts changing hands.

* S&P 500 e-minis were down 8 points, or 0.37 percent, with 35,350 contracts traded.

* Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 14.75 points, or 0.31 percent, on volume of 2,360 contracts.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)