US STOCKS-Wall Street set to open higher on Huawei reprieve

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* Chipmakers rise as U.S. eases curbs on China's Huawei
* J.C.Penney, Kohl's tumble as same-store sales disappoint
* Home Depot edges lower on slowing comp sales growth
* Futures up: Dow 0.54%, S&P 0.49%, Nasdaq 0.62%

(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes were set to rise at
the open on Tuesday, as concerns over a further escalation in
the U.S.-China trade war eased after the United States
temporarily relaxed curbs on China's Huawei Technologies.
Chipmakers, which bore the brunt of Monday's sell-off, rose
in premarket trading after Washington granted the Chinese
telecoms equipment maker a license to buy U.S. goods until Aug.
19. Companies that have been supplying to Huawei including Intel
Corp INTC.O , Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O , Xilinx Inc XLNX.O and
Broadcom Inc AVGO.O rose between 1.4% and 3%.
"The easing up on Huawei is being seen as a sign that while
the United States and China are unhappy with each other, neither
side wants to burn the negotiation bridge at the moment," said
Connor Campbell analyst at Spreadex in London.
President Donald Trump added Huawei HWT.UL to a trade
blacklist last week, leading several companies to suspend
business with the world's largest telecom equipment maker and
triggering fears that the decision could deeply impact the
global technology sector.
Reuters reported on Sunday that Alphabet Inc's GOOGL.O
Google would stop providing Huawei access to its proprietary
apps and services. But Huawei said on Tuesday it is working
closely with the U.S. company to resolve the restrictions.
Wall Street has been impacted by mounting concerns about a
prolonged trade war, with the S&P 500 .SPX set to post its
worst monthly decline since the December sell-off. The benchmark
index is trading nearly 4% below its all-time high hit earlier
in May.
"This is pure case of cautiousness and we're stuck in a
trading range. The recent behavior is of indecisiveness," Peter
Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities
in New York, said.
At 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 138 points, or
0.54%. S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were up 14 points, or 0.49% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were up 46 points, or 0.62%.
Investors also focused on earnings reports from a handful of
retailers.
Home Depot Inc HD.N shares dipped 0.5% after the home
improvement chain reported its slowest growth in quarterly
same-store sales in at least three years. Rival Lowe's Cos Inc
LOW.N fell 1%.
Department store operator J.C. Penney Co Inc JCP.N fell
7.8% after the company reported a bigger-than-expected fall in
quarterly comparable-store sales. Rival Kohl's Corp KSS.N tumbled 8.8% after the company cut
its full-year profit forecast and reported quarterly same-store
sales and profit that missed expectations.
Department store operator Nordstrom Inc JWN.N dropped
1.3%. The company is expected to report results after markets
close on Tuesday.
On a thin day for economic data, the National Association of
Realtors is expected to show U.S. existing home sales rose to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.35 million in April from
5.21 million in March. The report is due at 10 a.m. ET.