(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window.) * Home Depot falls after U.S. same-store sales miss estimates * U.S. retail sales drop 1.1% in July on weak autos * Spirit Airline slips after Q3 forecast cut * Futures down: Dow 0.47%, S&P 0.42%, Nasdaq 0.53% (Adds comment, details; updates prices) Aug 17 (Reuters) - The Dow and the S&P 500 were set to fall from record highs on Tuesday after weak earnings reports from Home Depot and Walmart, and as retail sales data showed the pace of the U.S. economic recovery slowed in July. Home Depot fell 3.2% after it missed Wall Street estimates for U.S. same-store sales for the first time in seven quarters, as the pandemic-driven surge in demand for do-it-yourself home-improvement products waned. Data showed U.S. retail sales fell much more than expected in July as shortages weighed on purchases of motor vehicles and other goods, while fears over the Delta variant of COVID-19 kept consumers home. Walmart’s shares fell 0.3% even after the world’s No. 1 retailer raised its annual U.S. same-store sales forecast. Global equities started the week on the backfoot as tighter scrutiny of China’s internet sector and signs of slowing economic recovery, particularly in China, drove investors towards defensive parts of the market. Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil, Schlumberger NV , Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum, Halliburton and Conocophillips slipped between 0.3% and 0.8% in premarket trading, tracking crude prices lower on weak Asian demand. Interest rate-sensitive lenders Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and Goldman Sachs fell between 0.7% and 0.8%. Still, the benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow Industrials closed at record highs on Monday as investors weighed concerns about a resurgence in global COVID-19 cases, the Federal Reserve’s potential policy tapering moves against a stellar earnings season. “The market is near all time highs so it certainly is due for a breather, but I wouldn’t expect any material type of crashes or corrections,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital in New York. “There’s simply too much liquidity in the system, and there’s still confidence that Delta is going to be a transient spike that will resolve itself in coming weeks.” At 8:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 167 points, or 0.47%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 18.75 points, or 0.42%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 79.75 points, or 0.53%. Focus is now on minutes from the Fed’s latest meeting, due on Wednesday, after Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said that one more month of strong job gains could satisfy the central bank’s requirements for beginning to reduce its monthly asset purchases. Mega-cap technology stocks Microsoft Corp, Apple Inc, Netflix Inc, Facebook Inc, Amazon.com and Google-owner Alphabet Inc were down 0.5% each. Spirit Airlines dropped 4.6% after it cut its revenue and margin forecast for the third quarter, as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases drags booking trends. (Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.