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Futures: Dow up 0.1%, Nasdaq up 0.8%, S&P 500 up 0.5%

Jan 6 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher

on Monday, building on a late rally last week, as investors

bought into technology stocks on continued optimism around AI

and awaited crucial economic data that could set the tone for

the U.S. monetary policy path.

At 6:16 a.m. ET (1116 GMT), S&P 500 e-minis were up

0.51%, Nasdaq 100 e-minis added 0.82% and Dow e-minis

climbed 0.10%.

Tech stocks led gains again, with chipmakers getting a lift

from Microsoft's ( MSFT ) plan to invest $80 billion to develop

AI-enabled data centers, as well as Foxconn's

forecast-beating fourth-quarter revenue.

Shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose 2% in premarket trading,

while those in Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), Micron Technology ( MU )

and Broadcom ( AVGO ) rose between 1.3% and 3.4%.

U.S. stocks rebounded sharply on Friday after a string of

losses in December and the first few sessions of the new year

when concerns about high valuations, rising Treasury yields and

thin liquidity saw traders pullback after a strong run in 2024.

In a week packed with economic data and speeches from

Federal Reserve officials, investors will look for clues on the

pace of monetary policy easing this year.

Focus will be on Friday's monthly payrolls data, which is

expected to show U.S. job growth slowed in December compared

with the previous month, while unemployment rate held steady at

4.2%.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take the

oath of office on Jan. 20. While Trump's proposals - which

include cutting corporate taxes, easing regulations and imposing

tariffs - could boost corporate profits and energize the

economy, they also run the risk of placing upward pressure on

inflation.

Among other stocks, Lyft ( LYFT ) rose about 5% after

Benchmark upgraded the ride-hailing firm's stock to "buy" from

"hold."