* North Korea willing to hold talks with U.S. on denuclearization
* Trump tweets: we'll see what happens
* Target shares slip after holiday quarter profit missesestimates
* Futures up: Dow 136 pts, S&P 11.25 pts, Nasdaq 40 pts
By Ankur Banerjee and Sruthi Shankar
March 6 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set to open higher on Tuesday as the prospect of talks between North Korea and the United States and increasing resistance to President Donald Trump's proposed metals tariffs encouraged risk appetite among investors.
North Korea is willing to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization and will suspend nuclear tests while those talks are under way, the South said on Tuesday after a delegation returned from the North after meeting leader Kim Jong Un. in the first U.S. response, said on Tuesday: "We will see what happens." news added to early gains for U.S. markets, which have been recovering from a bout of concern over the possibility of a global trade war following remarks by Trump last week.
"When geopolitical environment is improving, there's very much a risk-on sentiment," said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index in London.
"I would not say that trade war fears are completely erased... there are doubts that Trump will actually manage to push the trade tariffs through."
Investor fears were eased after Trump's threat of hefty tariffs on aluminum and steel was seen as a negotiating tool following his tweet on Monday that Canada and Mexico could avoid the tariffs if they ceded ground in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks.
Top U.S. Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, urged Trump on Monday not to go ahead with the tariffs.
"There's also a lot of pressure regarding the tariff - not only GOP, trading partners but also many business leaders in the United States," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at First Standard Financial in New York.
By 8:37 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were up 136 points, or0.55 percent, S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were up 11.25 points, or0.41 percent, Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 were up 40 points, or0.58 percent.
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan toldCNBC the base case on interest rate hikes has not changed andremains at three for the year, adding that the United States iseither at or beyond full employment now.
Last month's U.S. payrolls report showed wages growing attheir fastest pace in more than eight years, fueling concernsthat both inflation and interest rates would rise faster thanexpected that led to a steep selloff.
Investors are keenly waiting for the upcoming February jobsdata due on Friday to gauge the strength of the labor market.
Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley isscheduled to speak later on Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce is scheduled to releasefactory orders data for January at 10 a.m. ET.
Target TGT.N shares slipped 2 percent after the big-boxretailer reported lower-than-expected profit for the holidayquarter.