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Futures off: Dow 0.08%, S&P 0.08%, Nasdaq 0.07%

May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on

Friday, near the end of a week of sharp Wall Street gains

underpinned by hopes of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts after

softer-than-expected consumer inflation data.

All three main indexes had touched record highs on Thursday

and the Dow briefly crossed the 40,000 milestone, before

reversing gains and closing in the red.

Nevertheless, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were set for their

fourth straight week of gains, and the blue-chip Dow was on

track for its fifth weekly advance, supported by strong

quarterly results and slowing inflation data that bolstered bets

for Fed rate cuts.

"We believe the rally has been well-supported. The

first-quarter earnings results and guidance provided us with

greater conviction for our view of 9% earnings growth for the

S&P 500 in 2024, with earnings growth broadening out beyond the

large-cap growth companies," said Mark Haefele, chief investment

officer at UBS Global Wealth Management in a note.

"Additionally, U.S. economic data has been in line with our

base case for a soft landing."

Investors will parse comments from Fed officials Christopher

Waller and Mary Daly, expected after the opening bell, for

further cues on the central bank's monetary policy path.

Traders currently see a 70% chance of the first rate cut in

September, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

At 05:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 31 points

or 0.08%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 4.25 points or

0.08%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 13.75 points or

0.07%.

Reddit ( RDDT ) rose 12.6% in premarket trading on

partnering with OpenAI to bring its content to ChatGPT.

Meanwhile, GameStop ( GME ) and AMC Entertainment ( AMC ) -

meme stocks popular with retail investors - gained 9.4% and

5.0%, respectively.

Both were on track to end the week sharply higher on

excitement over the social media return of "Roaring Kitty," who

was the central figure in 2021 meme stock rally.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by

Varun H K)