* Citigroup to cut about 50,000 jobs, stock drops
* Lowe's forecasts Q4 profit shortfall
* News of Japan's recession adds to global slump fears
* Absence of concrete stimulus steps from G20 weighs
* For up-to-the-minute market news, please click on
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(Recasts first paragraph, updates prices)
By Ellis Mnyandu
NEW YORK, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks headed for a lower
open on Monday after Japan became the latest major economy to
slide into recession and Citigroup <C.N> said it would cut
about 50,000 jobs, heightening fears the global economic slump
is deepening.
In earnings reports, Lowe's Cos Inc <LOW.N> , the No. 2
U.S. home improvement retailer, forecast a fourth-quarter
profit below Wall Street's estimates, and its shares fell 2.4
percent.
The news from Japan, the world's second-biggest economy,
marked another big blow to investors' sentiment, along with the
failure of this weekend's meeting of the world's 20 largest
economies to come up with new stimulus measures for the world
economy.
Stocks set to take a pounding include Dell Inc <DELL.O> ,
down more than 5 percent before the bell, after Merrill Lynch
cuts its rating on the computer maker.
Citigroup shares fell 2 percent to $9.31 before the bell
after the U.S. bank said to cut costs it will cut as many as
50,000 jobs. For details, see []
"There was some expectation that we will get more action
versus commentary out of the G20," said Arthur Hogan, chief
market analyst at Jefferies & Co in Boston.
"We are going to have a soft opening and then reassess by
lunch time. Japan entering recession is just a 'me too' story.
We are in a global recession."
S&P 500 futures <SPc1> fell 8.10 points and were below fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures <DJc1> declined
87 points and Nasdaq 100 <NDc1> futures fell 8.75 points.
Merrill cut Dell to "neutral" from "buy," sending the stock
down to $10.34 before the bell.
News of Japan sliding into its first recession in seven
years in the third quarter followed last week's news that the
Euro zone had also entered recession.
Lowe's, whose shares fell to $17.80 before the bell, said
it remained cautious about the near term. [].
Shares of Target Corp <TGT.N> dropped 6 percent to $31.06
before the bell after the No. 2 U.S. discounter said it had
suspended share repurchases. []
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
