Wall Street set to dip after CPI, Empire State data

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to open a little lower on Wednesday after a regional gauge of manufacturing suggested economic growth was still stalled, although a gauge of inflation left open a door for the Federal Reserve to implement further stimulus.

The New York Fed's "Empire State" general business conditions index dropped to minus 5.85 from 7.39 in July, missing expectations for 6.5 and contracting for the first time since October 2011. Meanwhile, Labor Department data showed consumer prices were flat in July for a second straight month and the year-over-year increase was the smallest since November 2010.

The S&P 500 index has stalled near early-May highs after gaining in seven of the past nine sessions; the benchmark index has not moved more than 0.22 percent in either direction over the past five sessions and volume has declined in a seasonally slow period.

Deere & Co lost 5.1 percent in premarket trading after the world's largest agricultural equipment maker reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, citing weak sales in China, India and other emerging markets. Rival Caterpillar Inc slipped 1.3 percent to $86.75.

The benchmark index had begun its rally on anticipation central banks in the U.S. and euro zone will take action to stimulate their respective economies in September.

"People are going to sit and wait because Jackson Hole is still two weeks away and there is still the chatter about quantitative easing coming from around the world," said Ken Polcari, managing director at ICAP Equities in New York, referring to the Federal Reserve's annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at the end of August.

"So the market is just held in check, it's confused. You will see some pressure with money coming off the table but nothing to get concerned about - we are stuck in this purgatory."

Data expected later in the session include industrial production and capacity utilization for July at 9:15 a.m. ET (1315 GMT) and the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo August housing market index at 10:00 a.m. ET (1400 GMT).

Economists in a Reuters survey expect a 0.5 percent rise in production and a reading of 79.2 percent for capacity utilization. The housing market index is expected to show a 35 reading, identical to July.

S&P 500 futures fell 2.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures lost 24 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 3.75 points.

Staples Inc slumped 17.4 percent to $11.12 in premarket trading after the office supply chain reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue on weak demand in North America, Europe and Australia, and forecast flat sales for the fiscal year.

Target Corp advanced 1.3 percent to $64.18 after the discount retail chain posted a flat quarterly profit.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co jumped 8.3 percent to $35 in premarket after the teen clothing retailer reported quarterly profit slightly above the forecast it issued two weeks ago.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group LP will form a partnership with the management of Getty Images to buy Getty Images Inc from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3 billion.

Other S&P 500 companies scheduled to report earnings on Wednesday include Agilent Technologies Inc , Cisco Systems , Limited Brands and NetApp Inc .

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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