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Futures off: Dow 0.35%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.19%

March 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on

Monday, as investors awaited key inflation figures this week

that could provide cues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy

path, after a mixed jobs data reinforced expectations that it

will begin easing by mid-year.

Wall Street ended the week lower on Friday as high-flying

chip stocks fell from all-time highs and a labor market report

showed more new jobs than expected while the unemployment rate

also unexpectedly rose.

The mixed report bolstered bets of a Fed interest rate cut

in June. Some traders even bet on a May rate cut after Friday's

data.

This week's February data including consumer prices (CPI)

will offer more cues on whether inflation has eased enough for

policymakers to lower borrowing costs in coming months.

Sticky inflation data for January and signs of a robust

economy halted the AI-led rally last month and led traders to

push back bets of the first interest rate cut to June from

March.

At 05:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 135 points,

or 0.35%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 10.25 points, or

0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 33.5 points, or

0.19%.

Nvidia rose 1.2% in premarket trading, following a more than

5% drop on Friday as chip stocks lost some momentum.

Other chip stocks including Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and Broadcom ( AVGO )

were down 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

Boeing ( BA ) eased 0.8% after a report that U.S. Justice

Department has opened a criminal investigation into the

planemaker's 737 MAX blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight.

LATAM Airlines flight LA800, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, told

the New Zealand Herald that a "technical problem" had caused a

"strong movement" during a flight from Sydney to Auckland,

hurting at least 50 people.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related firms including

Coinbase Global ( COIN ), Riot Platforms ( RIOT ) and Marathon

Digital ( MARA ) climbed between 4.5% and 5.6% as bitcoin

hit a fresh record high.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) fell 1.7%, after shedding 2.3% in the

previous session.

The 2024 U.S. presidential election is also coming into

focus, with investors bracing for a likely rematch between

former president Donald Trump and incumbent president Joe Biden.