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Futures up: S&P 500 0.12%, Nasdaq 100 0.22%, Dow 0.06%

May 13 (Reuters) -

Futures for the main U.S. indexes were slightly higher on

Monday, after several weeks of gains, as investors awaited key

inflation figures this week to gauge the likelihood of interest

rate cuts this year.

On Friday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite

registered their third week of gains in a row for the first time

since January, while the Dow posted its biggest weekly

gain since mid-December.

The indexes were also trading near their peaks, boosted by

stronger-than-expected earnings reports and signs of a cooling

U.S. labor market that fueled bets of one or two rate cuts by

the U.S. Federal Reserve this year.

Investors will focus on a spate of economic readings this

week, including monthly producer and consumer prices, retail

sales and weekly jobless claims.

The keenly awaited inflation data on Wednesday is expected

to show that core consumer prices rose 0.3% on a

month-over-month basis in April, for an annual rise of 3.6%,

according to economists forecasts in a Reuters poll.

"After upside surprises in the first quarter, markets will

focus on service inflation excluding shelter and energy

services," said Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at

Lazard.

"After core CPI increased by 36 bps in March, I expect any

increase of a similar or larger size to provoke a negative

market reaction while any material downside surprise will elicit

relief and raise the probability of additional Fed rate cuts by

year-end."

While Fed policymakers in recent days have reassured markets

that the next move is not a rate rise, the timing of the first

rate cut remains uncertain. Cleveland Fed President Loretta

Mester is scheduled to speak later in the day.

Traders are currently pricing in rate cuts of 42 bps from

the Fed by the end of 2024, according to LSEG's rate

probabilities app, with odds for a September rate cut at 49%.

Major companies reporting this week include Home Depot ( HD )

, Walmart ( WMT ), Cisco ( CSCO ) and Alibaba.

Of the 459 S&P 500 companies that reported through Friday,

77.3% beat analysts' profit estimates, according to LSEG data.

The long-term average is 66.7%.

By 05:37 a.m. ET, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6.25

points, or 0.12%. Nasdaq 100 e-minis rose 39.5 points,

or 0.22%, and Dow e-minis climbed 24 points, or 0.06%

Alphabet slipped 1.8% premarket as

Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI looked set to announce its artificial

intelligence (AI)-powered search product on Monday. Microsoft ( MSFT )

edged up 1.1%.

Arm Holdings climbed 2.6% after Nikkei Asia

reported the SoftBank Group's-backed chip designer

plans to develop AI chips, seeking to launch the first products

in 2025.

Meme stock GameStop's ( GME ) shares rallied 21.2%, on top

of a 57% jump so far in May, while AMC Entertainment ( AMC )

added 6.9%.