US STOCKS-Futures flat as Fed policy meeting looms

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* Futures: Dow up 0.03%, S&P 500 and Nasdaq flat

By Shreyashi Sanyal
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock markets were set to open just
off record highs on Monday, pausing at the start of a week set
to be dominated by Wednesday's statement by the Federal Reserve
and a round of tech company earnings that will again test the
impact of trade concerns on global growth.
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes closed at record highs on
Friday, as upbeat earnings from Google-parent Alphabet GOOGL.O
and Starbucks SBUX.O capped a strong week for U.S. retailers
and tech companies.
While Refinitiv data shows 75% of the 218 S&P 500 companies
that have reported earnings so far have topped profit estimates,
data on the U.S. economy has gone in the opposite direction,
supporting action by the Fed on Wednesday.
A quarter point cut to bolster the amount of capital
coursing through financial markets and support borrowing by
ordinary Americans is fully priced in for Wednesday, however,
and it will be policymakers' comments on what next that should
define whether a rally since May continues.

"The key question facing investors now is whether the Fed
can get away with a small number of insurance cuts or whether it
will be pushed towards a more fundamental loosening of policy,"
Neil Shearing, group chief economist at Capital Economics, said
in a note.
Among other stocks, Mylan NV MYL.O surged 21.6% as it
confirmed reports over the weekend that it was combining with
Pfizer Inc's PFE.N off-patent branded and generic established
medicines business to form a new global player. Pfizer dropped 1.8% after the drugmaker slashed its
full-year profit and revenue forecast in an unexpected release
of its quarterly results to go with the deal announcement.
Starbucks Corp SBUX.O retreated 1.4% from Friday's record
highs after J.P.Morgan downgraded the coffee chain's stock to
"neutral" saying its valuation has become "beyond stretched".
Hopes that the Fed would take a more dovish approach to
counter the impact of a protracted U.S.-China trade war has
helped Wall Street's main indexes scale record levels this
month.
But the market's recovery from a torrid month of trading in
May have also been dependent on other indicators like earnings
not being so robust as to make the Fed hold fire.
Some 33% of S&P companies will be reporting this week, led
by Apple Inc AAPL.O after hours on Tuesday.
At 7:22 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 8 points, or
0.03%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 0.25 points, or 0.01%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 1 points, or 0.01%.