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Futures up: Dow 0.10%, S&P 500 0.01%, Nasdaq 0.06%

July 3 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher

in pre-holiday trading on Wednesday, as investors geared up for

an employment report among a slew of economic data, along with

minutes from the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting.

The equity market will close early on Wednesday and stay

shut on Thursday on account of U.S. Independence Day, keeping

trading volumes thin throughout the week.

Reports on ADP National Employment and weekly jobless claims

are due before the opening bell, a day after data showed higher

U.S. job openings as well as layoffs in May. This also comes

ahead of Friday's closely watched non-farm payrolls data.

"Our view remains that we should see a slowing down of the

employment data over the coming months. If employment slows and

the disinflation trend is intact, Fed will deliver a September

rate cut," Jefferies chief Europe economist Mohit Kumar wrote.

Market participants see a 65% chance of the first rate cut

in September, and around two cuts by year end, as per LSEG's

FedWatch data.

The other data points on the watch list include factory

orders and services PMIs after markets open, along with the

Fed's June meeting minutes at 2 p.m. ET. New York Fed President

John Williams is also set to take the stage during the day.

Gains in Tesla and megacap stocks helped the Nasdaq

and the S&P 500 to close at record highs on Tuesday, a

day that also saw Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledge the

"disinflationary path," while also flagging the need for more

data before cutting interest rates.

"A 25-bps cut may not make much difference to the economy,

but if the Fed is proactive, then no one can blame Powell for

not doing his job by keeping rates higher for longer and

engineering a slowdown," Jefferies' Kumar added.

Tesla rose 2.7% premarket after hitting its highest

level since January on Tuesday following a smaller-than-expected

drop in second-quarter vehicle deliveries.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 1.4%, in a recent choppy run for the

AI chip leader after its staggering gains since 2023, even when

other semiconductor stocks held their ground on the day.

As the S&P 500 has jumped over 15% in the first half of

2024, largely supported by top-tier high momentum

technology-related stocks, the benchmark index's equal-weighted

counterpart only rose 5%, signaling the lack of a

broad-based market strength.

At 4:59 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 40 points, or

0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.75 points, or 0.01%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.06%.

Among other premarket movers, Paramount Global ( PARAA )

jumped 6.5% after Shari Redstone's National Amusements reached a

preliminary deal to sell its controlling interest in the media

giant to David Ellison's Skydance Media.