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Futures down: Dow 0.10%, S&P 0.23%, Nasdaq 0.34%

April 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged lower

on Wednesday as jittery investors awaited economic data and

comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after strong

readings on the U.S. economy tempered bets on interest rate cuts

this year.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the blue-chip Dow

closed at two-week lows on Tuesday as Treasury yields rose to

multi-month highs in the wake of stronger-than-expected

manufacturing activity and factory orders data that raised

doubts whether the Fed will cut interest rates thrice in 2024 as

widely expected.

The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield edged

up to 4.377% on Wednesday, having touched a 2024 peak of 4.05%

in the prior session.

March private payrolls and services sector data later in the

day could offer fresh insights on the U.S. economy.

A slew of U.S. central bank officials including Powell are

also slated to speak during the day. Powell's speech is due at

1210 ET (1610 GMT).

Traders are pricing in a 62% chance that the Fed will cut

interest rates by 25 basis points in June, according to

CMEGroup's FedWatch tool, slightly down from about 64% a week

ago.

Market participants have also pared back their expectations

on the number of rate cuts to about two this year from three a

few weeks ago, according to LSEG's rate probability app.

Cleveland Fed Bank President Loretta Mester and San

Francisco Fed Bank President Mary Daly said on Tuesday they

think it would be "reasonable" to cut U.S. interest rates three

times this year, even as stronger recent economic data has sown

investor doubts about that outcome.

Focus will shift to the Labor Department's jobs report on

Friday that is expected to show U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased

by 200,000 jobs in March, following 275,000 job additions in

February.

At 5:59 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 40 points,

or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 12 points, or 0.23%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 62.5 points, or 0.34%.

Intel ( INTC ) fell 5.3% in premarket trading after the

chipmaker disclosed $7 billion in operating losses for its

foundry business in 2023, steeper than the $5.2 billion reported

the year before.

Tesla dipped 0.8%, adding to its near 5% drop on

Tuesday after the automaker missed first-quarter delivery

estimates.

Paramount Global ( PARAA ) gained 4.1% after a report said

the media giant has been discussing entering into talks with

David Ellison, the founder of the Skydance media company, for a

potential deal.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb

Chakrabarty)