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* Apple rises as brokerage sees higher iPhone demand
* Qorvo, Skyworks gain on Cowen upgrades
* Cisco falls on report of GS downgrade
* Futures off: Dow 0.16%, S&P 500 0.13%, Nasdaq 0.10%
(Adds comment; Updates market action)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
open lower on Thursday, as top negotiators from the United
States and China meet for the first time since late July to try
to hammer out a deal to end the 15-month long trade war.
U.S. stocks had a roller-coaster week so far, with
developments in the trade war stealing the spotlight. All three
major indexes ended the previous session almost 1% higher on
optimism that the two sides could agree to a partial trade deal.
Those hopes strengthened after Bloomberg reported the United
States was weighing a currency pact with China, but dampened
again on Thursday as China urged the United States to stop
unreasonable pressure on Chinese companies. Further denting sentiment, the South China Morning Post
reported the United States and China made no progress in
deputy-level trade talks earlier in the week. "What the market wants more than anything is something
concrete and tangible from these talks," said Andre Bakhos,
managing director at New Vines Capital LLC in Bernardsville, New
Jersey. "There are many variables, but the linchpin at the
moment is the trade talks."
Equity markets have also been rankled by weak economic
indicators showing a sharp contraction in U.S. manufacturing and
a bleak reading on business activity, bolstering bets of another
interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve to combat a slowdown.
Traders currently see an 85% chance of the central bank
lowering borrowing costs at its policy meeting in October,
according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.
Data on Thursday showed U.S. consumer prices were unchanged
in September, while underlying inflation retreated. Apple Inc AAPL.O inched 0.3% higher in premarket trading
after Longbow Research upgraded the company to "buy", citing
higher iPhone 11 demand.
Apple suppliers Skyworks Solutions Inc SWKS.O and Qorvo
Inc QRVO.O gained 2.6% and 3.2%, respectively, after Cowen and
Co upgraded its rating on both the companies, expecting them to
benefit from higher iPhone demand.
At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 41 points,
or 0.16%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 3.75 points, or
0.13% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 7.75 points, or
0.10%.
Cisco Systems Inc CSCO.O dropped 1.4%, after a report that
Goldman Sachs downgraded the network gear maker's shares to
"neutral".
Investors are also awaiting the third-quarter earnings
season, which kicks off next week. Analysts now expect earnings
for S&P 500 companies to drop by 3.1% year-on-year, the first
contraction since an earnings recession that ended in 2016.