(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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April consumer prices, retail sales due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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GameStop ( GME ) extends gains in meme stock rally

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NYCB gains on $5 bln mortgage warehouse loan sale

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Futures: Dow up 0.04%, S&P up 0.03%, Nasdaq down 0.05%

(Updated at 06:53 a.m. ET/ 1053 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shristi Achar A

May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little

changed on Wednesday ahead of crucial consumer prices data that

will test the recent market rally fueled by hopes of monetary

policy easing.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq notched a fresh record closing

high on Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's

assessment of U.S. growth and inflation reassured investors as

they digested hotter-than-expected producer prices for April.

The U.S. Labor Department is expected to report that the

consumer price index (CPI) likely gained 0.4% in April,

reflecting a similar rise in March, according to economists

polled by Reuters.

"While we'd expect it to remain too elevated for the U.S.

Federal Reserve to feel confident that the time has come to

start cutting interest rates, it would mark a step in the right

direction," Julien Lafargue, chief market strategist at Barclays

Private Bank, said in a note.

A stronger-than-expected CPI could amplify concerns about

sticky inflation and spark worries that a too-hot economy will

force the Fed to delay its interest rates easing cycle.

Traders see a 66.6% chance that the U.S. central bank will

cut rates by at least 25 basis points (bps) in September,

according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Previous expectations were

for a first cut as early as March.

Still, stocks have rallied so far this year on

better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter and

expectations that the Fed will be able to cool inflation without

badly hurting growth and eventually transition to cutting

interest rates.

Cisco ( CSCO ), Walmart ( WMT ) and Applied Materials ( AMAT )

are among the companies scheduled to post their

quarterly numbers this week.

The benchmark S&P 500 is whiskers away from a record

high, while the blue-chip Dow is also set to breach the

40,000-mark for the first time.

Retail sales data is on tap at 8:30 am ET, while investors

will also keep a close eye on commentary from Federal Reserve

officials including Neel Kashkari, Michael Barr and Michelle

Bowman.

At 06:53 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 17 points, or

0.04%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.03%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 8.75 points, or 0.05%.

Most megacap growth and technology stocks inched lower in

premarket trading, while Tesla outpaced peers with a

0.4% advance.

Retail investor darling GameStop ( GME ) gained 1.2%, set to

extend this week's rally after "Roaring Kitty" Keith Gill, a

central figure behind the 2021 meme stock frenzy, posted on

social media platform X.

Other meme stocks such as AMC Entertainment ( AMC )

turned 7% lower, cutting earlier gains.

Shares of New York Community Bancorp rose 5.6%

after the embattled lender said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell

about $5 billion in mortgage warehouse loans to JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shristi Achar A in

Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Devika Syamnath)