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Futures up: Dow 0.29%, S&P 500 0.30%, Nasdaq 0.23%

Feb 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched up on

Friday, steadying after sharp declines earlier this week, as

investors shifted their focus to a key inflation figure that

could influence expectations regarding the Federal Reserve's

monetary policy trajectory.

At 5:25 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 124 points, or

0.29%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 17.5 points, or 0.30% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 48 points, or 0.23%.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure index - the Fed's

preferred inflation gauge - is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. The data is

expected to show prices increased by 2.5% in January on an

annual basis, compared with a 2.6% rise in the month before.

Excluding volatile items such as food and energy, the index

is forecast to rise 2.6% in the previous month, compared with a

2.8% increase in December.

Friday's report would be crucial for investors trying to

gauge the central bank's next policy move at a time when

policymakers have reiterated a hawkish stance on interest rate

as they take stock of the potentially inflationary effect the

new Donald Trump administration's policies could potentially

have on the economy.

Traders see the Fed lowering borrowing costs by 25 basis

points for the first time this year in July, according to data

compiled by LSEG, and later in the day, investors will assess

comments from Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee.

Multiple recent reports suggesting a stalling economy and

concerns that technology companies such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) might be overspending on artificial

intelligence infrastructure have put Wall Street's main indexes

on track for monthly declines.

The benchmark S&P 500 has logged declines in five of

the past six sessions and is poised for its biggest one-month

drop since April 2024, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is

down over 8% from its all-time high and is set for its steepest

one-month fall since September 2023.

In premarket trading, Nvidia ( NVDA ) edged up 0.5% after an 8.5%

slide in the previous session, which evaporated $274 billion of

its market value after the chip giant's weaker-than-expected

quarterly gross margin forecast overshadowed an upbeat revenue

outlook.

Dell lost 2.1% after the PC maker forecast a

decline in its adjusted gross margin rate for fiscal year 2026,

hit by higher costs to build AI servers.

Peer HP Inc ( HPQ ) fell 3.3% after its quarterly profit

forecasts missed expectations.

Megacaps such as Alphabet and Meta edged

up 0.5% each, while rate-sensitive banks such as JPMorgan Chase

& Co ( JPM ) inched up 0.3% and Bank of America ( BAC ) edged

0.2% higher.

Trump's latest threat to slap an extra 10% duty on imports

from China hit U.S.-listed China stocks such as Alibaba

and Xpeng that fell 4.4% and 8%, respectively.

Trump also said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and

Canadian goods would take effect on Tuesday.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) dropped 2.8%

and Coinbase lost 2.6% tracking bitcoin prices

that fell below $80,000.