April 10 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pared

their early losses on Thursday after a cooler-than-expected

inflation reading bolstered expectations that the Federal

Reserve would remain on track to cut interest rates this year.

A Commerce Department report showed the consumer price index

rose 2.4% in March on an annual basis, compared with

expectations of a 2.6% rise, according to economists polled by

Reuters. On a monthly basis, it slowed 0.1%.

Excluding volatile food and energy components, core CPI

increased to 2.8% on an annual basis, compared with estimates of

3%.

Separately, a Labor Department report showed the number of

new Americans filing for unemployment benefits came in at

223,000, compared with estimates of 223,000.

At 08:31 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 432

points, or 1.06%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 79.25

points, or 1.44% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 349

points, or 1.81%.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun

Koyyur)