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Salesforce ( CRM ) gains after abandoning talks to buy Informatica ( INFA )

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Tesla down on cutting prices in China, Germany, around

globe

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Futures up: Dow 0.52%, S&P 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.61%

(Updated at 7:24 a.m. ET/1124 GMT)

By Shristi Achar A and Shashwat Chauhan

April 22 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures rose on Monday after steep losses

in the previous session as easing Middle East tensions buoyed

risk appetite, while investors looked ahead to an action-packed

week with major tech earnings and a key inflation print.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended lower on

Friday as Netflix ( NFLX ) shares weighed after a dour quarterly

earnings report, with both the indexes suffering six straight

sessions of declines last week, their longest losing streak

since October 2022.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) led gains across megacap growth stocks with

a 1.7% rise in premarket trading, rebounding from a 10% drop in

the last session.

Other stocks such as Meta Platforms ( META ), Amazon.com ( AMZN )

and Alphabet edged higher between 0.5% and

1.0%.

Tesla, Meta Platforms ( META ), Alphabet and Microsoft ( MSFT )

will be in focus this week as the companies gear up to

deliver their quarterly numbers, whose performance could further

test the rally in U.S. stocks.

The risk-on mode was also supported by signs of easing

tensions in the Middle East, as Iran's foreign minister said on

Friday Tehran was investigating an overnight attack, adding that

so far a link to Israel had not been proven as he downplayed the

strike.

"Overnight, risk sentiment is better on relief rally that no

adverse geopolitical headlines were reported on the weekend,"

Mohit Kumar, chief economist Europe at Jefferies, said in a

note.

"Our cautious stance continues this week, though the

repricing from last week, particularly in tech stocks would give

an opportunity to buy the dip."

Equities have sold-off recently as market participants

readjust their interest rate cut expectations from the U.S.

Federal Reserve after a string of strong economic data signaling

persistent inflationary pressures.

Money markets are now pricing in just about 38 basis points

(bps) of rate cuts this year, down from about 150 bps seen at

the beginning of the year, according to LSEG data.

On the docket this week would be the price consumption

expenditure (PCE) index reading for March -- the Fed's preferred

inflation gauge - to further ascertain the monetary policy

trajectory.

Fed policymakers were in a media blackout ahead of their

latest policy meeting on May 1.

At 7:24 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 199 points, or

0.52%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 27.25 points, or 0.54%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 105 points, or 0.61%.

Among single stocks, Tesla fell 3.5% before the bell as the

electric vehicle maker cut prices in a number of its major

markets, including China and Germany, following price reductions

in the United States.

Salesforce ( CRM ) rose 3.3% after the business software

maker backed away from its talks to acquire data-management

software firm Informatica ( INFA ) after the two companies could

not agree on terms. Informatica's ( INFA ) shares were down 6.4%.

Verizon Communications ( VZ ) added 2.5% after the telecom

firm said it lost fewer-than-expected wireless subscribers in

the first quarter.