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Futures down: Dow 0.18%, S&P 500 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.20%

June 27 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures dropped on

Thursday, as Micron Technology ( MU ) slumped after an unimpressive

current-quarter forecast and dragged down other chip stocks,

while caution ahead of economic data and a presidential debate

also dented sentiment.

The memory chipmaker's shares lost 5.5% premarket

after fourth-quarter revenue forecast came largely along

expectations and disappointed investors upbeat about its

performance in the AI boom. Optimism around AI-driven demand had

lifted the stock 14% this month ahead of earnings.

Other semiconductor stocks including Nvidia ( NVDA ), Arm

Holdings, Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD )

were down between 0.8% and 1.1%.

With a handful of expensive heavily weighted stocks

supporting Wall Street's ascent since the last leg of 2023,

market participants have highlighted concerns over the rally's

sustainability and have called out for the need to diversify

portfolios to hedge against possible sharp losses.

Wall Street's three major indexes eked out modest gains in

Wednesday's choppy trading, with Amazon.com ( AMZN ) hitting $2

trillion in market value for the first time. The retail giant's

shares edged lower on Thursday in lackluster trading for megacap

tech stocks.

Focus now shifts to a slate of economic data including

durable goods for May, weekly jobless claims and first-quarter

PCE and GDP figures before markets open, just a day ahead of the

Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge- the monthly

personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index.

Investors have largely stuck to their view of around two

rate cuts this year, as per LSEG's FedWatch data, even though

the U.S. central bank has projected only one. Chances of an at

least 25-basis-point rate cut in September stand at 56.4%.

Further, President Joe Biden and former President Donald

Trump are set to face each other in the first debate during the

day, ahead of their rematch this November.

At 5:27 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 73 points,

or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 8.75 points, or

0.16%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 39.5 points, or

0.2%.

Further on the earnings front, Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA )

will detail its results before the market's open, with

its shares up 2.1% in early trade, while Nike ( NKE ) is due

after the closing bell.

Denim maker Levi Strauss slumped 15% after falling

short of expectations for second-quarter revenue, while

U.S.-listed shares of Canada's BlackBerry rose 7.2% after

beating first-quarter revenue estimates.

International Paper ( IP ) dropped 14.8% after the world's

largest pulp manufacturer, Brazil's Suzano,

terminated talks to buy the U.S.-based firm.