By Rodrigo Campos
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were set to fall at the open Tuesday weighed by earnings such as Target's, and as growth in China's service sector slowed to a nine-year low in July, stoking worries over the health of the world's second-biggest economy.
Target posted preliminary results and cut its second-quarter earnings estimate; its shares slid 4.1 percent in premarket trading.
China's services purchasing managers' index fell to 50.0 in July, the lowest since data collection began in November 2005, from a 15-month high of 53.1 in June.
The data was partly offset by expansion in the euro zone's services sector at the second-fastest pace in three years. However, deflationary pressures continued to weigh on the bloc.
Two separate readings on the U.S. services sector are due in the first half hour after the market opens on Tuesday.
S&P 500 e-mini futures were down 9 points and fair value - a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract - indicated a lower open. Dow Jones industrial average e-mini futures fell 59 points and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures lost 17 points.
Gannett Co shares rose 6.8 percent in premarket trading after the publisher of USA Today said it would take full ownership of automotive website Cars.com and spin off its publishing assets into a publicly traded company as it focuses on its digital businesses.
Coach shares added 4.3 percent premarket after the high-end retailer reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue helped by a rise in sales in international markets.
Office Depot reported a bigger quarterly loss but raised its full-year adjusted operating income forecast on higher-than-expected cost savings. Shares rose 4.3 percent in premarket trading.
Shares of solar and LED equipment maker GT Advanced Technologies rose 5.7 percent premarket a day after it raised the lower end of its full-year 2014 adjusted profit forecast, citing higher gross margins for the second half of the year.
Online coupon company RetailMeNot shares tumbled 21.3 percent in premarket trading after it forecast quarterly revenue below analysts' average estimate.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
