Wall Street set to open slightly higher as rally loses steam

By Tanya Agrawal and Anya George Tharakan

(Reuters) - Wall Street looked set to open slightly higher on Tuesday as a rally fueled by Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. election lost some steam, with investors still uncertain about his policies.

Investors are also keeping an eye on key appointments in Trump's administration.

Expectations Trump's administration will cut taxes, increase spending and accelerate inflation have boosted the dollar and stocks and driven bond yields higher.

The dollar slipped from an 11-month high, pausing for breath after rallying almost 3 percent since Trump's win.

Trump's victory has fueled expectations of higher U.S. growth, but his plans for heavy fiscal spending and trade protectionism are also seen likely to fuel inflation.

The Dow Jones industrial average has posted six straight days of gains, while the S&P 500 has risen 1.5 percent in the past five trading sessions.

"We're sort of poised for a little bit of a pullback here as people reassess what the new administration is likely to accomplish," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida.

"The uncertainty is going to hang over the markets for a while. So we may see a lot of this back and forth."

S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.5 points, or 0.25 percent, with 159,161 contracts traded at 8:33 a.m. ET (1333 GMT).

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 30.5 points, or 0.65 percent, on volume of 32,533 contracts.

Dow e-minis were up 17 points, or 0.09 percent, with 32,578 contracts changing hands.

Wall Street closed little changed on Monday after rising dramatically the week before and a decline in the technology sector offset a steep rise in financial stocks as investors bet on higher interest rates.

U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in October as households bought motor vehicles and a range of other goods. The Commerce Department said on Tuesday retail sales increased 0.8 percent last month, above the 0.6 percent increase forecast by economists.

Investors will also keep an eye on a host of U.S. Federal Reserve speakers on Tuesday for clues regarding the trajectory of future interest rate hikes.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said only "significant negative news" could derail the Fed's high expectations for raising U.S. interest rates next month.

The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates at its next meeting in December. Traders have priced in an 86 percent chance, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Other Fed speakers include Fed Governor Dan Tarullo and Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.

Oil prices jumped more than 3 percent, bouncing back from multi-month lows on expectations that OPEC will agree later this month to cut production to reduce a supply glut. [O/R]

Home Depot rose 0.73 percent to $128.60 in premarket trading after the No. 1 U.S. home improvement chain reported better-than-expected results for the third quarter.

JD.com was up 6.8 percent at $25.33 after China's second-largest e-commerce firm's third-quarter revenue beat analysts' expectations.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, and United Continental Holdings were up between 3.1 percent and 4.2 percent, a day after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway said it had bought shares in the airlines.

(Reporting by Tanya Agrawal; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)