Wall Street set to open lower

By Yashaswini Swamynathan

(Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open lower on Tuesday as investors sought safe-haven assets following British Prime Minister Theresa May's comments on Brexit and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's remarks on the dollar.

May said Britain would leave the European Union's single market when it exits the EU, but the final deal would be put to a parliamentary vote, helping U.S. stock futures trim some losses.

The dollar index fell 0.5 percent against a basket of major currencies after Trump told the Wall Street Journal that U.S. companies could not compete with China "because our currency is too strong. And it's killing us".

Investors are also focusing on quarterly earnings.

Morgan Stanley rose about 1 percent to $44.30 premarket after reporting a quarterly profit that flew past expectations, continuing a trend set by Bank of America and JPMorgan on Friday.

Dow component UnitedHealth edged up 0.12 percent to $162 after the largest U.S. health insurer reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

Dow e-minis were down 52 points, or 0.26 percent at 8:34 a.m. ET (1334 GMT), with 44,625 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were down 8.75 points, or 0.39 percent, with 274,748 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 20 points, or 0.4 percent, on volume of 44,077 contracts.

"There have been some favorable comments from Prime Minister May on Brexit, and with oil and gold prices higher and the dollar moving lower, I think we can cushion any steep losses today," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.

Gold prices surged more than 1 percent, trading at a near two-month high, while the Japanese yen rose to a six-week high. Oil prices ticked up 1.5 percent, benefiting from the weak dollar. [O/R]

Earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6.2 percent in the latest quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr Day.

Tiffany & Co's shares dropped 5.6 percent after the upscale jeweler reported disappointing performance during the holiday season.

Reynolds American were up 3.6 percent at $58 after British American Tobacco agreed to buy its U.S. rival for $49.4 billion.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)