US STOCKS-Wall Street set for subdued open on mixed earnings reports

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* Alphabet falls after missing quarterly profit estimates
* Merck, Pfizer gain on upbeat earnings
* Fed two-day policy meeting starts on Tuesday
* U.S. consumer confidence data at 10 a.m. ET
* Futures: Dow down 0.15%, S&P off 0.06%, Nasdaq flat

(Adds comments, updates market action)
By Arjun Panchadar
Oct 29 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on
Tuesday as investors assessed a mixed batch of earnings reports,
including from Google parent Alphabet and big drugmakers Merck
and Pfizer.
Hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal and expectations of another
rate cut by the Federal Reserve propelled the benchmark S&P 500
to a lifetime high on Monday, while also pushing the Nasdaq
within five points of its record closing high touched in late
July.
Merck & Co Inc MRK.N rose 2.7% in premarket trading after
it quarterly earnings blew past analysts' expectations, while
Pfizer Inc PFE.N gained 3.3% as it raised its 2019 earnings
forecast. Shares of Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O , however, slipped 1.1% as
the web search leader's quarterly profit missed estimates due to
higher costs. Third-quarter earnings of S&P 500 companies have largely
been better than expected, with over 78% of the 204 that have
reported so far surpassing profit expectations, according to
Refinitiv data.
"It's a little bit of a retracement trade from yesterday's
move in the equity markets. Earnings continue to come somewhat
decent with regards to what the management is saying about
futures earnings," said John Brady, senior vice president at
R.J. O'Brien & Associates in Chicago.
Other marquee names reporting this week include tech
heavyweights Apple Inc AAPL.O and Facebook Inc FB.O as well
as oil majors Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N and Chevron Corp CVX.N .
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative said late on
Monday it was studying whether to extend tariff suspensions on
$34 billion of Chinese goods set to expire on Dec. 28 this year.
"There is a little bit of a ray of sunshine poking through
some very dark clouds in the market with ... talks regarding the
U.S.-China trade continuing to be more positive than negative,
especially from those who are closely involved in it all," Brady
said.
All eyes will now be on the Fed meeting, where the central
bank is widely expected to deliver a quarter percentage point
interest rate cut for the third time this year amid fears of a
global economic slowdown.
At 8:28 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were down 40 points,
or 0.15%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were down 1.75 points, or
0.06% and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 2.75 points, or
0.03%.
Beyond Meat Inc BYND.O dropped 19% as the vegan burger
maker said it would need to offer more store discounts amid
rising competition. Shares of GrubHub Inc GRUB.N plunged 32% after the online
food delivery company warned of slowing growth as customers
opted to choose from a growing pool of rival providers to get
better deals. On the economic front, data at 10:00 a.m. ET is expected to
show reading on U.S. consumer confidence index rose to 128 in
October from 125.1 in September.