US STOCKS-Wall St set for weak open as caution prevails ahead of trade talks

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* U.S.-China trade talks to start Thursday
* E*Trade rises on UBS upgrade
* GM falls as UAW rejects latest offer
* Futures down: Dow 0.20%, S&P 500 0.26%, Nasdaq 0.33%

(Updates prices, adds comments)
By Shreyashi Sanyal
Oct 7 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to
slip at the opening bell on Monday as investors braced for
U.S.-China trade talks later in the week, after a rollercoaster
start to the month on fears that the world's largest economy
could be sliding into a recession.
Tariff concessions from the United States and China last
month fanned hopes of a dissolution to a prolonged trade war,
but market participants have grown nervous about the outcome of
high-level negotiations that begin on Thursday.
Chinese officials signaled they were increasingly reluctant
to agree to a broad trade deal pursued by U.S. President Donald
Trump, Bloomberg reported over the weekend. "Right now, investors are more focused on an actual outcome
from these talks, but a majority have become somewhat skeptical
that there will be something concrete this week," said Rick
Meckler, partner at Cherry Lane Investments, New Vernon, New
Jersey.
Wall Street logged a choppy start to the month as concerns
fueled by a contraction in U.S. factory activity and
weaker-than-expected services sector data were countered by
rising bets of a third interest rate cut this year by the
Federal Reserve.
Traders see a 77.5% chance of the Fed cutting rates by a
quarter percentage point at its policy meeting later this month,
up from about 40% a week ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch
tool.
After losing about 3% earlier in the week, the S&P 500
.SPX and Dow Jones .DJI indexes gained more than 1% on
Friday after a report showed nonfarm payrolls increasing by
136,000 last month and the unemployment rate dropping to a
50-year low. Investors will now turn to the third-quarter earnings
season, which kicks off next week with U.S. banks reporting
results, probing the impact of the trade war on Corporate
America.
Analysts expect the lowest quarterly profit performance
since 2016, with S&P 500 earnings falling 2.7% from a year ago,
based on IBES data from Refinitiv.
At 8:57 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 53 points,
or 0.2%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 7.75 points, or 0.26%
and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were down 25.25 points, or 0.33%.
Among stocks, E*Trade Financial Corp ETFC.O rose 2.4%
after UBS raised its rating on the online broker's shares to
"buy".
Ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc UBER.N also
rose 3.2% as Citigroup upgraded its shares to "buy".
General Motors Co GM.N dropped 1.3%, after the UAW
rejected the carmaker's latest offer of a four-year labor
contract and as its striking workers took a "turn for the worse"
on Sunday. Align Technology ALGN.O shares fell 1.8%, after Guggenheim
downgraded shares of the orthodontic device maker to "neutral"
on rising competition.
Rival SmileDirectClub Inc SDC.O added 2.6%. At least five
brokerages started coverage of the teeth alignment company with
"buy" or equivalent ratings, despite a disappointing market
debut last month.