*

Futures off: Dow 0.02%, S&P 500 0.09%, Nasdaq 0.19%

*

Target ( TGT ) down after reaffirming annual forecast

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Lowe's up on $8.8 bln deal to buy Foundation Building

Materials,

upbeat forecast

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Estee Lauder ( EL ) down after forecasting annual profit below

estimates

(Updates to before market opens)

By Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Aug 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set

for a subdued open on Wednesday as investors assessed uneven

earnings from retailers such as Target ( TGT ) and Lowe's for clues on

consumer spending ahead of a Federal Reserve symposium later

this week.

Earnings from big retailers, seen as a barometer for the

health of the American consumer, are in the spotlight as

sentiment has taken a hit from concerns that tariffs could drive

prices higher.

Target ( TGT ) plunged 10.5% in premarket trading after the

company named a new CEO and retained its annual forecasts that

were lowered in May due to weak demand for the discretionary

merchandise it sells.

Cosmetics giant Estee Lauder ( EL ) fell 6% after

tariff-related headwinds weighed on its annual profit forecast.

"Consumer spending is an integral part of the economy and

what we're seeing now is continued weakness from the consumer,

that's why you see stocks like Target ( TGT ) down 9%," said Adam

Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments in New York.

In contrast, home improvement retailer Lowe's gained

2.9% after raising its annual sales forecast and on plans to buy

Foundation Building Materials for nearly $8.8 billion.

At 08:57 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 7

points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 6 points, or

0.09%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 43.75 points, or

0.19%.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq marked their worst

session in more than two weeks on Tuesday as investors started

to take stock of elevated valuations in the tech sector that was

the biggest force behind the market's recovery from the April

selloff.

Deepening concerns of government interference with

companies, sources said the Trump administration was looking

into taking equity stakes in chip companies in exchange for

grants under the CHIPS Act - just weeks after signing

unprecedented revenue-sharing deals with Nvidia ( NVDA ) and AMD.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was up 0.2% in choppy trading, while

Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) lost 1.1% and Micron Technology ( MU )

fell 2.5%. Nvidia ( NVDA ) is also expected to report quarterly

results on Aug. 27.

"If the selling gets worse then you'll see a rotation out of

tech and into undervalued areas of the market like biotech or

healthcare stocks or small cap stocks," Sarhan said.

Minutes from the Fed's July meeting, where interest rates

were left unchanged, are expected at 2:00 p.m. ET. It could set

the tone before the central bank's highly anticipated conference

in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, between August 21 and 23.

Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak on Friday and his

remarks will be scrutinized for any clues on monetary policy,

even as investors price in a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in

September, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Remarks from Governor Christopher Waller and Atlanta Fed

President Raphael Bostic are expected later in the day.

Recent economic data has suggested that the economy is yet

to feel the full impact of tariffs and strategists expect the

lingering uncertainty to temper market optimism, leaving the

benchmark S&P 500 to potentially end the year just below current

near-record levels.

On the trade front, the Commerce Department slapped 50%

import levies on more than 400 "derivative" steel and aluminum

products.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy in

Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)