(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, as investors priced in a potential interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve in December and awaited economic data for greater clarity over
the health of the world's largest economy.
Wall Street's main indexes closed higher for a third consecutive session on Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500 ending at its highest level in two weeks.
Dovish commentary from influential Fed policymakers had traders price in a 84.9% likelihood for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the central bank next month, double the chances seen last week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
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.
The focus will now be on a jobless claims report for the week ending November 22, expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, along with a delayed September report on durable goods as investors scour for more clues to gauge the Fed's next move.
The central bank's update on the health of the economy, also known as the 'Beige Book', is expected at 2 p.m. ET.
At 05:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 92 points, or 0.2%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 18.5 points, or 0.27%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 88.75 points, or 0.35%.
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 3.6% rise in Dell in premarket trading after its quarterly forecasts surpassed expectations, supported by strong demand for its servers in AI data centers.
Shares of peers Super Micro Computer and Hewlett Packard Enterprise were marginally higher.
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 and Target 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
Signs of increasing competition in the AI-chip sector following an Alphabet-Meta deal weighed on shares of Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, down 1% and 2%, respectively. Alphabet's shares were up 1.8%, bringing it close to a $4 trillion market valuation.
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
