US STOCKS-Futures flat ahead of Trump speech

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* Futures slightly up: Dow 0.08%, S&P 0.05%, Nasdaq 0.10%

By Arjun Panchadar
Nov 12 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were largely
flat on Tuesday, as investors turned their focus to a speech by
President Donald Trump for clarity on U.S.-China trade
relations.
Hopes of a resolution to the 16-month long tariff war and a
strong corporate earnings season have pushed Wall Street to
record highs this month.
But sentiment dulled on Monday after Trump indicated that he
would only sign a trade deal if it was the "right deal" for
America. He is scheduled to discuss the country's trade policy
at the Economic Club of New York later on Tuesday. Trade-sensitive chipmakers including Micron Technology Inc
MU.O , Nvidia Corp NVDA.O and NXP Semiconductors NV NXPI.O
rose between 0.6% and 0.9% in premarket trading.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor index .SOX hit a record
high last week after reports that Washington and Beijing were
prepared to roll back existing tariffs in phases. However, Trump
contradicted those reports on Friday.
The third-quarter earnings season, which is drawing to a
close, has also been largely better than expected. About three
quarters of the S&P 500 companies that have reported have topped
analysts' expectations, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Big firms including Walmart Inc WMT.N , Nvidia and Cisco
Systems Inc CSCO.O are due to report later this week.
Also on the list is the next round of economic data,
including October retail sales and industrial production, as
well as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on the
domestic economic outlook.
At 7:22 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 23 points, or
0.08%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 1.5 points, or 0.05% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 8 points, or 0.1%.
D.R. Horton Inc DHI.N rose 3% in premarket trading as the
No.1 U.S. homebuilder benefited from strong demand held up by
cheaper mortgage rates, and also forecast 2020 home sales above
analyst expectations. Shares of Craft Brew Alliance BREW.O more than doubled
after brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev NV ABI.BR said it would take
over complete ownership of the Portland-based brewing company in
a deal valuing it at about $321 million. Tencent Music Entertainment Group TME.N , however, fell
2.6% after recording the slowest rise in a widely watched metric
for its biggest business.