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Futures: Dow down 0.04%, S&P 500 up 0.03%, Nasdaq down

0.01%

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PepsiCo ( PEP ) beats quarterly market view

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Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) shares rise on Q4 profit forecast

(Updates before markets open)

By Niket Nishant and Sukriti Gupta

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were poised

for a muted open on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell offered no fresh policy signals, leaving investors to

rely on older data to shape sentiment.

While markets have priced in aggressive interest rate cuts

on hopes that the Fed will prioritize labor market support,

minutes from the central bank's September meeting released on

Wednesday showed lingering inflation concerns.

Investors will also tune in to remarks from other Fed

speakers, including Board Governor Michael Barr and San

Francisco Fed President Mary Daly.

Any hawkish tilt from policymakers could weigh on equities,

which have held strong even during a seasonally weak stretch,

partly on expectations of lower rates.

At 08:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 18 points,

or 0.04%, S&P 500 E-minis rose 2 points, or 0.03%, and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis fell 2.75 points, or 0.01%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500

indexes closed at all-time highs on Wednesday.

"We're headed for a big correction, but that correction is

not likely to happen for a few months," said Peter Cardillo,

chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.

A quiet economic calendar has also prompted traders to

closely assess earnings reports from PepsiCo ( PEP ) and Delta

Air Lines ( DAL ), whose forecasts and executive commentary are

likely to be parsed for insights on consumer confidence.

These indicators are expected to be used as substitutes for

official releases, which have been halted due to the government

shutdown, now in its second week.

While their correlation with official data varies, some of

these proxies have shown worrying trends. Earlier this week,

investment firm Carlyle estimated that U.S. employers

added just 17,000 jobs last month, far below the 54,000

estimated by economists polled by Reuters in the nonfarm

payrolls report.

Separately, spot gold prices held above $4,000 an ounce,

after breaching the milestone for the first time earlier this

week. Bullion's gains have highlighted the strong demand for

hedging even as investors chase momentum in equities.

However, Israel and Hamas signing off on the first phase of

a proposed Gaza peace deal could help remove a long-term

overhang on risk assets.

Among stocks, PepsiCo ( PEP ) rose 0.6% in premarket

trading, after the beverage giant beat Wall Street expectations

for third-quarter revenue and profit, buoyed by resilient demand

for its energy drinks and healthier sodas in the U.S. The

company also named Walmart executive Steve Schmitt as its new

finance head.

Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) shares jumped 8.2%. The airline

provided an upbeat forecast for the current quarter, after

posting stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

Other U.S. carriers also gained. United Airlines

rose 5.5%, while American Airlines ( AAL ) and JetBlue Airways ( JBLU )

advanced 4.9% and 3.4%, respectively.

U.S. retailer Costco Wholesale ( COST ) rose 1.2%, a day

after reporting sales data for September.