March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pared

gains on Thursday, as a hotter-than-anticipated producer prices

reading dented hopes of the Federal Reserve cutting interest

rates in the coming months.

A Labor Department report showed the Producer Price Index

(PPI) rose 0.6% month-on-month in February, compared with a 0.3%

increase expected by economists polled by Reuters. Annually, it

rose 1.6%, versus an estimated growth of 1.1%.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed U.S.

retail sales rose 0.6% month-on-month in February, compared to

an estimated 0.8% increase.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans filing for unemployment

claims stood at 209,000 for the week ended March 9, compared

with an estimated 218,000 claims, according to a Labor

Department report.

At 8:31 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 108 points, or

0.28%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.75 points, or 0.19%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 43.75 points, or 0.24%.