(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)

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Indexes: Dow up 0.09%, S&P 500 down 0.15%, Nasdaq down

0.44%

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WK Kellogg climbs on report of $3 bln takeover deal with

Ferrero

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Airline stocks rise after Delta's upbeat forecast

(Updates with market open prices)

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

July 10 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq nudged lower on Thursday, as

investors monitored developments around U.S. President Donald

Trump's trade policies, while airline stocks jumped following

Delta's upbeat forecast.

At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average

rose 39.82 points, or 0.09%, to 44,498.12, the S&P 500

lost 9.36 points, or 0.15%, to 6,253.90 and the Nasdaq Composite

lost 89.97 points, or 0.44%, to 20,523.04.

Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) jumped 12.9% after forecasting

third-quarter and full-year profits above Wall Street estimates.

Peers United Airlines rose 9.7%, while American

Airlines ( AAL ) gained 9%, boosting the Dow Jones Transport

Average by 2.3%.

Markets are bracing for a flurry of second-quarter earnings,

set to kick off in full force next week.

"Investors need some validation from corporate earnings to

continue that justifies the valuations," said Eric Beiley,

wealth manager at Steward Partners.

"However, markets are in a wait-and-see mode with the tariff

announcements .. that's probably paused investors from this

strong buying spree."

Nine of 11 major S&P sectors were trading in green, with

technology and communication services being

the only drags.

Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla, however,

jumped 2.7% amid conversations around its next annual

shareholder meeting

in November.

Trump announced on Wednesday a new 50% tariff on copper to

start on August 1 and threatened a 50% tariff on exports to the

U.S. from Brazil. He also issued tariff notices to seven minor

trading partners.

Yet, several countries are still waiting for official word

from the White House, with investors closely monitoring the

evolving trade negotiations.

Meanwhile, Nvidia ( NVDA ) leaped to a $4 trillion valuation

on Wednesday, making it the first company ever to hit that mark.

The chip giant's shares slipped 0.2% in morning trade.

The minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting showed

most officials said they expect rate cuts will be appropriate

later this year, with price shocks from Trump's import taxes

expected to be "temporary or modest."

While a July Fed rate cut seems off the table, the odds of a

September reduction stand at 67%, according to CME Group's

FedWatch tool.

Last week's robust labor market report sent Wall Street's

major indexes to fresh record highs, signaling a rebound from

April's sharp sell-off following "Liberation Day" tariff

announcements.

The blue-chip Dow is just 1.1% away from reclaiming its

December 4 all-time high.

Initial jobless claims for the week of July 5 came in at

227,000, below consensus of 235,000, as per a Reuters poll.

Additionally, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher

Waller, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem and San

Francisco Fed President Mary Daly are expected to offer remarks

later in the day.

Among other stocks, WK Kellogg leapt 30.5% and was

on track for its biggest single-day move following reports that

Italian candy maker Ferrero was nearing a deal to buy the cereal

maker.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.26-to-1

ratio on the NYSE, and by a 1.24-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and four new

lows, while the Nasdaq Composite recorded 44 new highs and 18

new lows.