US STOCKS-Futures slip ahead of data; CIT drops

* CIT stock down 17 pct after bankruptcy warning

* Productivity and costs, wholesale trade data on tap

* Fed kick off 2-day monetary policy meeting

* Futures off: S&P 2.3 pts, Dow 11 pts, Nasdaq off 3.5 pts

* For up-to-the-minute market news click [STXNEWS/US]

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By Angela Moon

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday ahead of key data on productivity and labor costs, and before the Federal Reserve kicks off a policy meeting.

S&P 500 index futures SPc1 were down 2.3 points, and slightly 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 DJc1 fell 11 points, while Nasdaq 100 NDc1 futures slipped 3.50 points.

CIT Group Inc CIT.N fell 17 percent to $1.24 in premarket trading after the company said it would file for bankruptcy protection if it failed to complete its debt tender or arrange other financing. (For details, see [ID:nN11509084])

More evidence of an economic recovery could come from productivity and unit labor costs data due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).

Economists in a Reuters survey forecast quarterly productivity, the amount of output per hour of work, would rise 5.3 percent versus a 1.6 percent increase in the first quarter. Unit labor costs, a gauge of inflation and profit pressures, are seen down 2.4 percent compared with a 3.0 percent rise in the previous quarter.

Investors are closely watching a two-day monetary policy meeting by the U.S. Federal Reserve that kicks off Tuesday. While interest rates are likely to remain at current levels, the focus will be on signs of an exit strategy from the Fed's quantitative easing policy.

"We are now at a crossroad between investors buying consumer discretionaries and financials, thinking that we are in a V-shaped recovery. But if that is true, we will be facing higher interest rates and something similar to that," said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates Inc in Toledo, Ohio.

Other economic data due includes the retail sales index of department and chain store sales for August released by Redbook. The data is due at 8:55 a.m. (1255 GMT).

The Commerce Department reports wholesale inventories for June at 10:00 a.m. (1400 GMT). Economists in a Reuters survey forecast inventories to fall by 0.9 percent in June versus a decline of 0.8 percent in May.