US STOCKS-Wall St set for muted open; airline stocks take flight on Delta's wings

By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma

July 10 (Reuters) - Wall Street looked set for a subdued start on Thursday, taking a breather after Nvidia's $4 trillion sprint, while airline stocks jumped following Delta's upbeat forecast.

At 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 56 points, or 0.13%, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were lower 3 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 1.5 points, or 0%.

Delta Air Lines DAL.N jumped 12.9% before the bell after forecasting third-quarter and full-year profits above Wall Street estimates.

Peers United Airlines UAL.O rose 9.7%, while American Airlines AAL.O gained 9%.

Markets are bracing for a flurry of second-quarter earnings, set to kick off in full force next week.

"Investors need some validation from corporate earnings to continue that justifies the valuations," said Eric Beiley, wealth manager at Steward Partners.

"However, markets are in a wait-and-see mode with the tariff announcements .. that's probably paused investors from this strong buying spree."

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday a new 50% tariff on copper to start on August 1 and threatened a 50% tariff on exports to the U.S. from Brazil. He also issued tariff notices to seven minor trading partners.

U.S.-listed shares of Brazilian firms fell in premarket trading, with Petrobras PBR.N down 1.9%, Itau Unibanco ITUB.K sliding 2.6% and Banco Santander SAN.N falling 2.6%.

Yet, several countries are still waiting for official word from the White House, with investors closely monitoring the evolving trade negotiations.

Hopes are also high for a breakthrough with India, with both Trump and top officials hinting a deal is within reach, while talks with the European Union inch closer to a framework agreement.

Wall Street closed higher on Wednesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq .IXIC notching a record close - propelled by Nvidia's NVDA.O historic leap to a $4 trillion valuation, making it the first company ever to hit that mark.

The chip giant's shares continued to climb, up 1%.

The S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow .DJI also eked out gains, buoyed by the minutes from the Federal Reserve's June meeting that showed most officials said they expect rate cuts will be appropriate later this year, with price shocks from Trump's import taxes expected to be "temporary or modest."

While a July Fed rate cut seems off the table, the odds of a September reduction stand at 67%, up from around 60% before the minutes' release, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Last week's robust labor market report sent Wall Street's major indexes to fresh record highs, signaling a rebound from April's sharp sell-off following "Liberation Day" tariff announcements.

The blue-chip Dow is just 1.4% away from reclaiming its December 4 all-time high.

Initial jobless claims for the week of July 5 came in at 227,000, below consensus of 235,000, as per a Reuters poll.

Markets have largely shrugged off the latest tariff threats, as investors grow accustomed to Trump's familiar tariff saber-rattling, analysts say.

Additionally, Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly are expected to offer remarks later in the day.

Among stocks, WK Kellogg KLG.N leapt 52.6% following reports that Italian candy maker Ferrero was nearing a deal to buy the cereal maker.