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May ADP employment report, services PMI on tap

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CrowdStrike ( CRWD ) gains after strong Q2 forecast

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HPE climbs after upbeat revenue forecasts

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Futures up: Dow 0.12%, S&P 0.18%, Nasdaq 0.38%

(Updated at 7:09 a.m. ET/1109 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Johann M Cherian

June 5 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose

marginally on Wednesday as investors strengthened bets on an

earlier start to the Federal Reserve's rate cuts this year than

previously expected, after a slew of economic data pointed to

slowing economic growth.

Wall Street ended Tuesday's session slightly higher, paring

some losses, with rate-sensitive real estate stocks

leading sector gains.

That came on the heels of initial losses after data showed

U.S. job openings in April fell to their lowest in more than

three years, the latest report to suggest growth in the world's

largest economy is cooling. This allows the Federal Reserve more

leeway to cut interest rates.

Markets are now pricing in about 44 basis points of easing

this year, according to the LSEG rate probabilities app.

Additionally, expectations for a September rate reduction now

stand around 65%, versus below 50% last week, according to the

CME's FedWatch tool.

"The JOLTS report follows a string of soft economic data

releases and suggests a gradual cooling in the US economy...

market participants are likely to welcome a cooling economy and

the prospect of monetary easing, given the overwhelmingly

bullish outlook among investors," analysts at BCA Research said

in a note.

Signs of steady inflation and resilient economic growth

forced markets to dial back hopes for both the timing and pace

of interest-rate cuts at the start of the year, when many had

expected policy easing to start as early as March.

Rate-sensitive megacap stocks rose in premarket trading,

with Nvidia ( NVDA ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN )

up between 0.3% and 1.0%.

Investors now await the nonfarm payrolls report, due on

Friday, for a comprehensive evaluation of the labor market. The

ADP National Employment Report, as well as surveys on the

services sector, are expected later on Wednesday.

At 7:09 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 45 points, or

0.12%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 9.5 points, or 0.18%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 71.5 points, or 0.38%.

Among others, Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) slipped 2.7% in choppy

trading after a disappointing quarterly profit forecast. The

budget retailer said it would explore options that include a

potential sale or spin-off of Family Dollar.

Intel ( INTC ) gained 0.8% after buyout firm Apollo Global

Management ( APO ) agreed to purchase a 49% equity interest for

$11 billion in a joint venture related to the chipmaker's

Ireland manufacturing unit.

Applied Materials ( AMAT ) added 1.9% after brokerage

Barclays upgraded the chip stock to "equal weight" from

"underweight".

CrowdStrike Holdings ( CRWD ) jumped 9.7% after forecasting

second-quarter revenue above estimates when markets closed on

Tuesday, helped by strong demand for its cybersecurity

offerings.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) forecast third-quarter

revenue above Street expectations, helped by upbeat demand for

its artificial intelligence servers, sending its shares up

15.0%.