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CVS Health ( CVS ) gains on new board appointments in deal with

Glenview

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Moderna ( MRNA ) advances after brokerage upgrade

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Futures: Dow down 0.32%, S&P 500 up 0.06%, Nasdaq up 0.40%

(Updated at 07:00 a.m. ET/1200 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 18 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock futures were mixed on Monday as investors shifted

their attention to key corporate results, particularly from

AI-chip heavyweight Nvidia ( NVDA ), after a sharp decline on Wall Street

the previous week.

Rising expectations that the Federal Reserve will slow its

pace of rate cuts and uncertainty over the impact of U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet appointments saw indexes

slump on Friday.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell back from

record highs, seeing their worst weekly losses in more than two

months.

Results from Nvidia ( NVDA ), which reports third-quarter

earnings on Wednesday, will be crucial as investors assess

whether the optimism around AI, responsible for much of markets'

tech-driven rally this year, can be sustained. Its shares fell

2.1% in premarket trading after a report said its new AI chips

were overheating in servers.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) revenue is forecast to jump more than 80% to $33

billion, according to estimates compiled by LSEG, and the

company is expected to post a net income of $18.4 billion.

"Given that its (Nvidia's ( NVDA )) more recent earnings 'beats' have

been dwindling in size, this report will have to beat estimates

more than comfortably, especially with broader valuations

looking rather lofty and bond yields turning back higher after a

brief respite," said Marc Ostwald, chief economist and global

strategist at ADM Investor Services International.

Most other megacaps edged higher, with Nasdaq 100

futures gaining ground after the index fell for five

consecutive sessions. Alphabet rose 0.3%, Amazon.com ( AMZN )

was up 0.6% while Tesla soared 7.3%.

Earnings from major retailers including Walmart ( WMT ),

Lowe's Companies and Target ( TGT ) this week will also

be scrutinized to gauge the strength of the U.S. consumer, with

the key holiday shopping season set to begin.

Dow E-minis were down 137 points, or 0.32%, S&P 500

E-minis were up 3.5 points, or 0.06% and Nasdaq 100

E-minis were up 82.25 points, or 0.40%.

Stock indexes have lost some of the sharp gains made in the

wake of Trump's decisive presidential election win, as optimism

over the Republican's potentially pro-business stance has given

way to focus on the inflationary impact of his policies and the

outlook for the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate path.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is scheduled to speak

on the day, the first of several central bank officials slated

this week. Their comments will be followed closely after Chair

Jerome Powell said the Fed was in no hurry to cut rates.

Traders are pricing in a 38.1% chance the Fed will keep

rates on hold in December, according to the CME FedWatch.

Still, Wall Street remains fairly well placed as 2024 winds

down. The benchmark index has gained nearly 3% in November and

23% year-to-date as solid economic data, the presidential

election and broadly upbeat earnings propelled equities to

record highs.

CVS Health's ( CVS ) shares gained 3.1% after the health

insurer said it would add four new members to its board in an

agreement with Glenview Capital Management.

Shares of Moderna ( MRNA ) advanced 2.4% after HSBC

upgraded the vaccine maker's stock to "buy" from "hold".