June 18 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the tech-heavy

Nasdaq and the benchmark S&P 500 climbed on Tuesday, after

softer-than-expected U.S. retail sales data boosted investor

optimism around monetary policy easing by the Federal Reserve

this year.

A Commerce Department report showed retail sales rose 0.1%

in May, below the 0.3% increase expected by economists polled by

Reuters.

At 8:30 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or

0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 4.25 points, or 0.08%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 51.75 points, or 0.26%.