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Target ( TGT ) falls after muted holiday-quarter sales forecast

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Comcast ( CMCSA ) up after it says it will proceed with cable

channels'

spin-off

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Nvidia ( NVDA ) results due after market close

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Futures up: Dow 0.26%, S&P 500 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.19%

(Updates before markets open)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 20 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures indicated a slightly higher open on

Wednesday as investors were cautiously optimistic ahead of AI

giant Nvidia's ( NVDA ) quarterly results, while retailer Target's ( TGT ) shares

tumbled after a downbeat holiday-quarter forecast.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) is scheduled to report results after the

bell and its shares were up 0.4% in premarket trading, after

jumping nearly 5% in Tuesday's session.

Meanwhile, Target ( TGT ) plunged 16.2% after the retailer

forecast holiday-quarter comparable sales and profit below Wall

Street expectations after missing third-quarter estimates.

But the spotlight is on Nvidia ( NVDA ), which has nearly tripled

in value this year, accounting for about 20% of the S&P 500's

returns over the past year, according to BofA Global

Research.

However, given the lofty earnings expectations, the

company could struggle to impress investors.

Options traders are primed for a nearly $300-billion swing

in the company's market value after the results.

"The strong AI demand, particularly for Nvidia's ( NVDA ) Blackwell

chips, and the robust results from TSM (Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing Co), that builds its chips, hint (Nvidia ( NVDA )) results

will probably meet and beat expectations," said Ipek

Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"But it's hard to say that good results will lead to a

good market reaction."

Retailers such as Dollar Tree and Dollar

General ( DG ) fell 2.2% and 2.5%, respectively, while Walmart ( WMT )

edged 0.4% lower after posting strong results in the

previous session.

Still, investors appeared optimistic about Nvidia's ( NVDA )

results and the broader equity outlook.

"We're starting to gain traction again," said Adam

Sarhan, chief executive of 50 Park Investments.

"There's some optimism Nvidia ( NVDA ) is going to report good

numbers... you had earnings yesterday from Walmart ( WMT ), a good proxy

of how the low-end consumer is doing, and if the low-end

consumer is doing well, investors are happy that the economy's

not going to crumble."

At 8:35 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 111 points, or

0.26%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.16%, and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 39.75 points, or 0.19%.

Some soothing of geopolitical worries also buoyed stock

futures on the day after Reuters reported Russian President

Vladimir Putin was open to discussing a Ukraine ceasefire deal

with Donald Trump.

Cryptocurrency stocks ticked higher as bitcoin briefly

jumped above $94,000, with MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) and MARA

Holdings ( MARA ) up 7.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

Comments from Federal Reserve officials including Lisa Cook,

Michelle Bowman and Susan Collins are expected through the day,

while Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr is scheduled to

testify before the House Financial Services Committee.

Traders have increased bets on the central bank leaving

interest rates unchanged at its December meeting, in the wake of

strong economic data and signs of persistent inflation. They see

a 41.1% chance of a pause next month, according to CME's

FedWatch tool.

Comcast ( CMCSA ) gained 2.5% after the company said it

plans to spin off some NBCUniversal cable TV networks, as the

rise of streaming prompts the media company to relinquish some

of its most prized assets.