(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

*

SentinelOne ( S ) gains after raising annual revenue forecast

*

Nordstrom ( JWN ) climbs as quarterly profit beats estimates

*

Foot Locker ( FL ) drops on bigger second-quarter loss

*

Futures tracking Dow and S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq off 0.01%

(Updated at 7:19 a.m. ET/1119 GMT)

By Johann M Cherian and Purvi Agarwal

Aug 28 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were flat on

Wednesday ahead of Nvidia's ( NVDA ) earnings report, with focus squarely

on if the market's recent bull rally that was spearheaded by the

AI chip firm and other tech-related shares can be sustained.

Wall Street's main indexes have swung between small gains

and losses this week, with the Dow hovering near record

highs and the S&P 500 within 1% of an all-time high, as

investors await Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results after the bell.

The chip designer's shares were marginally up in premarket

trading. Options pricing shows traders anticipate a move of

around 9.8% in Nvidia's ( NVDA ) shares on Thursday, a day after it

reports earnings, data from analytics firm ORATS showed.

Any disappointment in Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results could hurt megacaps

and other semiconductor stocks, which have led 2024's rally on

the prospect of artificial intelligence integration boosting

corporate profits.

"The chip giant is again expected to demonstrate that it's

firing on all cylinders," said Susannah Streeter, head of money

and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

"But a lot will also be riding on the outlook and guidance

from the firm, with some uncertainty swirling about just how

long it will be before the rapacious appetite for its products

is sated."

Other chip stocks such as Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and Advanced

Micro Devices ( AMD ) also edged higher, as did megacaps

including Apple ( AAPL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Alphabet

.

At 07:19 a.m., Dow E-minis were up 1 point, or

flat, S&P 500 E-minis were up 0.25 point, or flat,

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 2.25 points, or 0.01%.

Optimism continued to prevail that the U.S. Federal Reserve

will lower interest rates at its September meeting after Fed

Chair Jerome Powell's support for imminent policy adjustment

last week, that had sparked broad-based market gains.

Odds of a 25-basis point reduction currently stand at 65.5%,

while those of a 50-bps cut are at 34.5%, according to the CME

Group's FedWatch Tool.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure report for July, due on

Friday, is expected to provide further insight into the pace and

magnitude of the central bank's rate-cut trajectory.

Comments on the economic outlook from voting member and

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, due later in the day, will

also be closely watched.

SentinelOne ( S ) raised its annual revenue forecast,

sending the cybersecurity company's shares up 1.9%.

Nordstrom ( JWN ) jumped 4.6% after the department-store

chain reported second-quarter profit which topped estimates,

while Foot Locker ( FL ) sank 7% after the athletic apparel

retailer posted a bigger quarterly loss.