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Futures off: Dow 0.39%, S&P 500 0.36%, Nasdaq 0.37%

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Walmart ( WMT ) hikes annual forecast; shares drop

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US weekly jobless claims rise to highest since June

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Coty ( COTY ) falls on weak U.S. spending forecast

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Boeing ( BA ) gains as report says company to sell jets to China

(Updates to before market open)

By Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Aug 21 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set

for a lower open on Thursday, as investors turned cautious ahead

of the Federal Reserve's three-day conference in Jackson Hole,

while big-box retailer Walmart's ( WMT ) quarterly results did little to

boost sentiment.

Walmart ( WMT ) raised its fiscal year sales and profit,

driven by strong demand from shoppers across all income levels.

But its shares fell 2.5% in premarket trading.

The "results were actually pretty good across the board. I

just think they're landing in a market that has taken on a risk

off tone this week," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at

B Riley Wealth.

Reports from other retailers such as Target ( TGT ) and Home

Depot ( HD ) earlier this week painted a mixed picture, while

technology stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), AMD, Palantir ( PLTR ) and Meta saw a

sharp decline.

The selloff signaled investor fears that the equities, which

have soared since April lows, are now overvalued, while

Washington's growing interference in the sector has also raised

alarms.

But according to the Stock Trader's Almanac, the selloff

could also be a result of investors paring back their stock

exposure during a traditionally rocky period for equities.

"Although dip buyers have stepped in to stabilize the

market, it's too early to rule out a further slump in mega-cap

tech stocks," said Raffi Boyadjian, lead market analyst at

brokerage XM.

In premarket trading, Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and

Palantir ( PLTR ) were marginally up, while Meta lost

0.7% and Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 0.3%.

At 08:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 176 points,

or 0.39%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 22.75 points, or

0.36% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 85.75 points, or

0.37%.

Boeing ( BA ) gained 1.7% after a report suggested that the

plane maker was in talks to sell as many as 500 jets to China,

while Coty ( COTY ) slumped 19% after the beauty products maker

forecast a drop in current-quarter sales on weak U.S. spending.

The spotlight this week is on the Fed's annual symposium,

where Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to speak on Friday at 10

a.m. ET. Traders are looking for any commentary from Powell that

would signal an interest rate cut in September following recent

job market weakness.

A weekly report on Thursday showed that the number of

jobless claims rose by the most in about three months last week.

The minutes from the central bank's July meeting indicate

that policymakers had struck a cautious tone and plan to stick

with it until they can fully gauge the impact of trade

uncertainty on the economy.

The caution had traders paring odds of a 25-basis-point

interest rate cut in September to 79% from 99.9% last week,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

In trade developments, the U.S. and the European Union on

Thursday finalized a framework deal they had reached last month.