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Futures slip: Dow 0.10%, S&P 500 0.15%, Nasdaq 0.16%

Aug 18 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures wavered on

Monday, pausing after a recent rally as investors shifted their

focus to earnings from big box retailers and an annual central

bank conference at Jackson Hole, all of which are lined up later

this week.

Geopolitics was also in the spotlight as Donald Trump was

set to meet Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders

to map out a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, following the

U.S. President's summit with Russia's Vladimir Putin last week,

which yielded no concrete outcome.

Wall Street's main indexes rallied over the past two weeks,

with the blue-chip Dow hitting an intra-day record high

on Friday, aided by interest rate cut expectations and a

better-than-expected earnings season despite an uncertain trade

environment.

Investors will closely monitor reports from Walmart ( WMT ),

Home Depot ( HD ) and Target ( TGT ) among others, which are

expected this week, to determine how trade uncertainty and

inflation expectations have affected the American consumer.

Data on Friday showed that while retail sales were

increasing broadly as anticipated, consumer sentiment overall

had taken a hit from mounting inflation fears.

"The U.S. earnings season has so far been very robust as it

draws to a close, but updates from Walmart ( WMT ) and Home Depot ( HD ) this

week are likely to be closely watched as investors look for an

indication as to how the US consumer is faring," said AJ Bell's

investment director Russ Mould.

At 05:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 47 points,

or 0.10%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 10 points, or 0.15%

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 38.5 points, or 0.16%.

Investors continue to price a 25 basis point cut from the

Federal Reserve next month, although they have lowered their

expectations for another rate cut this year, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

Recent data has also suggested that while U.S. tariffs have

not filtered into headline consumer prices yet, jobs market

weakness could nudge the central bank to take a more dovish

stance.

Markets hope that the Fed's Jackson Hole, Wyoming conference

between August 21 and 23, where Chair Jerome Powell is expected

to speak, could offer more clarity on the economic outlook and

the central bank's policy framework.

On the trade front, the Trump administration widened the

reach of its 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports by adding

hundreds of derivative products to the list of goods subject to

the levies.

Among early movers, UnitedHealth ( UNH ) rose 2.7% in

premarket trading, building on its nearly 12% jump in the

previous session.

Crypto stocks such as Strategy and Coinbase

declined about 2% each, tracking a 2.5% drop in bitcoin

prices.

Markets were also assessing multiple deals on the mergers

and acquisitions front.

Dayforce ( DAY ) surged 21.4% after a report said PE firm

Thoma Bravo is in talks to acquire the HR management software

firm, while Soho House ( SHCO ) jumped 13.3% as another report

said a group of investors led by New York-based MCR Hotels is

nearing a deal to take the members' club operator private.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by

Shinjini Ganguli)