Aug 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower on Thursday, as investors analyzed big-box retailer Walmart's quarterly results for clues about the health of the American consumer, ahead of the Federal Reserve's three-day conference in Jackson Hole.
Walmart (WMT.N), raised its fiscal year sales and profit forecasts, driven by strong demand from shoppers across all income levels, who have turned to the world's largest retailer amid rising product costs. However, shares of the retailer fell 2.5% in premarket trading.
The company has implemented minimal price hikes compared to competitors and promised to maintain low prices, as well as stocked up on affordable discretionary products to draw in more customers.
Investors are also trying to gauge how U.S. tariffs would impact holiday sales later this year, after reports from other retailers such as Target (TGT.N), and Home Depot (HD.N), earlier this week had painted a mixed picture.
The week also witnessed a sharp decline in technology stocks such as Nvidia, AMD, Palantir and Meta signaling investor fears that the equities, which have soared since April lows, are now overvalued, while Washington's growing interference in the sector has also raised alarms.
The selloff could also be a result of investors paring back their stock exposure during a traditionally rocky period for equities, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.
"Equities could be more at risk of volatility amid this week's selloff in AI-related stocks on the back of renewed doubts about AI valuations," said Raffi Boyadjian, lead market analyst at brokerage XM.
"Although dip buyers have stepped in to stabilize the market, it's too early to rule out a further slump in mega-cap tech stocks."
In premarket trading, Nvidia (NVDA.O), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), and Palantir (PLTR.O), were marginally up, while Meta (META.O), slipped 0.3%.
At 07:17 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 145 points, or 0.32%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 11.25 points, or 0.18% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 22.25 points, or 0.10%.
Boeing (BA.N), gained 1.5% after a report suggested the plane maker was in talks to sell as many as 500 jets to China.
Among other market movers, Coty (COTY.N), slumped 20% after the beauty products maker forecast a drop in current-quarter sales on weak U.S. spending.
The Fed's annual symposium is expected to kick off on Thursday, with Powell scheduled to speak on Friday at 10 a.m. ET. Traders are looking for any commentary from Chair Jerome Powell that would signal an interest rate cut in September following recent job market weakness.
Minutes from the central bank's July meeting showed on Wednesday that policymakers had struck a cautious tone and expect the current interest rates to be not far above the neutral level - where economic activity is neither stimulated nor constrained.
Traders have pared back odds of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September to 79% from 99.9% last week, according to data compiled by LSEG.
A weekly report on jobless claims, a private report on business activity and remarks from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, are also expected on Thursday.
Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
