(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Retailers edge up ahead of Black Friday trading

*

Applied Therapeutics ( APLT ) plummets after FDA declines drug

approval

*

Markets to close at 1:00 p.m. ET

*

Futures up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 500 0.15%, Nasdaq 0.09%

(Updates before market open)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 29 (Reuters) -

U.S. stocks were on track for a slightly higher open on

Black Friday, with Wall Street's main indexes set for monthly

gains as the holiday shopping season kicked off, putting retail

companies in the spotlight.

Investors will scrutinize the stocks of retailers expected

to attract millions of shoppers with their deep Black Friday

discounts, as customers start their year-end holiday shopping.

The National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group, expects

roughly 85.6 million shoppers to visit stores this year, up from

76 million on Black Friday in 2023.

Shares of Target ( TGT ) rose 0.5%, TJX climbed

0.2%, Walmart ( WMT ) edged up 0.4% and Nike ( NKE ) added 0.4%

in premarket trading.

"Retailers do a lot of importing. Inventory levels are very

important to their profitability and ability to kind of control

margins, so they will be one of the industries in the (tariffs)

crossfire," said Ross Mayfield, investment strategist at Baird.

"But so far... (things are) looking pretty solid for the

Black Friday, Cyber Monday sale."

At 08:38 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 86

points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 8.75 points,

or 0.15%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 18.75 points,

or 0.09%.

Futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000 index

rose 0.7% as yields on Treasury bonds retreated further from

multi-month highs.

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Wednesday, the

eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, after data showed signs of

sticky inflation, bolstering bets the U.S. Federal Reserve could

remain cautious on interest-rate cuts in 2025.

The three main indexes were on track for monthly gains, with

the benchmark S&P set for its biggest one-month rise

since February. An index tracking small-cap companies hit

a record high earlier in the week and was poised for its

steepest monthly rise so far this year.

President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the U.S.

presidential election earlier this month, along with his

Republican Party winning the majority in both houses of

Congress, provided the latest boost to equities.

Investors were pricing in expectations Trump's policies on

tax cuts, tariffs and deregulation could spur economic growth

and corporate performance. However, concerns that the policies

could also stoke upside price pressures, slow the pace of the

Fed's policy easing and weigh on global growth prevail.

Traders expect the central bank to lower borrowing costs by

25 basis points at its December meeting, but see it pausing rate

cuts in January and March, according to the CME Group's

FedWatch.

Speaking about Trump's plan to impose tariffs on the

country's top trade partners, President Joe Biden said he hopes

the president-elect will rethink his plan, saying it could

"screw up" the United States' relationships with close allies.

Crypto stocks were up as bitcoin climbed 2%, trading

at about $97,000. MicroStrategy O> rose 4.2%, MARA

Holdings ( MARA ) added 1.4%, and Bit Digital advanced

2.2%.

Applied Therapeutics ( APLT ) plunged 75% after the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its drug for

the treatment of a rare genetic metabolic disease.

Analysts expect stock moves to be impacted by thin volumes

after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.