Futures slip as First Republic shares plunge, earnings roll in

April 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Tuesday as shares of First Republic Bank dived after the regional lender reported a plunge in deposits, while investors parsed through earnings reports for clues on the health of corporate America and the U.S. economy.

First Republic Bank (FRC.N) dropped 20.9% in premarket trading after it reported deposits fell by more than $100 billion in the first quarter following the banking sector crisis in March and said it was exploring options including restructuring its balance sheet.

Shares of other regional banks PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) and Western Alliance Bancorp (WAL.N) slipped 2.9% and 2.5%, respectively.

"The problem for First Republic and the banking group overall is how little progress the bank has made," Mike O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading said in a note. "The regional banks had a rough showing last week, and this will only remind investors that there are still material risks."

Investors were also concerned about the impact of elevated inflation and aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve on company margins.

In a busy week for earnings, 178 of the S&P 500 companies are expected to report first-quarter results. Analysts have largely maintained their forecast of a near-5% drop in first-quarter profit for S&P 500 companies through the start of the earnings season, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

Trillion-dollar companies Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) are set to report results after markets close on Tuesday.

At 06:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 155 points, or 0.46%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 23 points, or 0.55%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 61.5 points, or 0.47%.

Investors are also awaiting the Fed's monetary policy decision in May for signals on the path of interest rates. Traders mostly expect the U.S. central bank to hike rates by 25 basis points next week and hold steady before cutting rates later this year.

The world's top central banks including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan will reduce the frequency of their dollar operations with the Federal Reserve after volatility in financial markets receded, the banks said in a joint statement.

Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) climbed 4.6% after it reported first-quarter monthly active users crossed the half-billion mark for the first time, helped by the music-streaming company's expansion into more markets.