US STOCKS-Wall Street to open higher as December Fed rate-cut bets grow

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Futures up: Dow 0.21%, S&P 500 0.29%, Nasdaq 0.44%

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HP falls on dour profit forecasts, announces layoffs

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Dell gains after strong revenue, profit forecasts

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Focus on weekly jobless claims, durable goods data

(Updates to before markets open)

By Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap

Nov 26 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main stock indexes were poised to open higher on Wednesday, as investors parsed through a fresh batch of economic data and cemented expectations the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates in December.

A Labor Department report showed the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits was 216,000 for the week ended November 22, lower than estimates of 225,000 as per economists polled by Reuters.

Separately, a delayed report showed new orders for capital goods rose 0.5% in September, more than the 0.3% increase economists polled by Reuters were expecting.

"The economy isn't slipping into recession, but it's weak enough to allow the Fed another cut. There's still a high amount of people that are on unemployment, so this gives the Fed headroom to be able to cut some more," Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners said

Dovish commentary from influential policymakers and reports pointing to consumer demand softening had investors already pricing in a 84.9% chance the Fed could lower interest rates by 25 basis points next month, roughly double from last week's chances, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

On the back of those expectations, U.S. stocks notched a third consecutive gain on Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 closing at a two-week high.

Focus will now be on the central bank's snapshot of economic conditions, the Beige Book, expected at 2 p.m. ET.

At 08:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 97 points, or 0.21%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 20 points, or 0.29%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 109.25 points, or 0.44%.

Investors were also weighing a report suggesting White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett was a frontrunner to be the next Fed Chair, at a time when political influence in monetary policymaking has been a concern.

Wall Street's recent recovery from a tech-led selloff earlier this month has trimmed monthly losses on the main indexes. It would still be their biggest monthly losses since the U.S. tariff rout earlier this year.

However, tech overvaluations still remain a concern and the S&P 500 technology index has borne the brunt of it with a 6% monthly decline.

Lifting some of the gloom on Wednesday was a 5.2% rise in Dell in premarket trading after its quarterly forecasts surpassed expectations, supported by strong demand for its servers in AI data centers.

Traders were also heading into a busy holiday shopping period starting with the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The period will be crucial for big-box retailers that will be catering to customers navigating tariff-induced price pressures and corporate layoffs.

Results and forecasts from retailers such as Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) have been mixed even as the National Retail Federation expects this year's holiday sales to top $1 trillion for the first time.

Among other stocks, HP fell 2.6% after the personal computer maker unveiled dour profit forecasts and announced job cut plans. (Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)