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Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) to close nearly 1,000 stores, shares drop

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Intel ( INTC ) down after report Pentagon scraps plan of $2.5 bln

chip

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Tesla falls after Wells Fargo rating cut

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Futures: Dow up 0.11%, S&P up 0.04%, Nasdaq off 0.08%

(Updated at 6:44 a.m. ET/1044 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Johann M Cherian

March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were

subdued on Wednesday as investors awaited a slew of economic

data this week, including producer prices and retail sales

numbers, for hints on the Federal Reserve's policy path.

The benchmark S&P 500 climbed to a fresh record high on

Tuesday as Oracle shares surged and slightly hot

consumer price data failed to dampen hopes of interest-rate cuts

in the coming months.

Despite inflation still away from the central bank's target

of 2%, investors have taken solace in the fact that the Fed

still sees credit conditions easing in 2024, while the economy

remains resilient.

Traders now see a 66% chance of the first rate cut coming in

June, the CME FedWatch Tool showed. Since March 2022, the Fed

has raised its policy rate by 525 basis points to the current

range of 5.25% to 5.50%.

"While the February CPI data was noisy across segments, we

believe the U.S. economy continues to be in good shape and is

heading for a soft landing," said Mark Haefele, chief investment

officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, in a note.

On tap later this week is economic data that includes the

February producer prices figures on Thursday, which could offer

more insight into inflation in the world's largest economy.

At 6:44 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 41 points,

or 0.11%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 2 points, or 0.04%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 14.75 points, or 0.08%.

Some market participants believe the relentless U.S. stock

market rally is poised for a breather, even if it remains

unclear whether equities are in a bubble or a strong bull run.

Most megacap growth and technology stocks edged down in

premarket trading.

Tesla dropped 2.1% in trading before the bell after

brokerage Wells Fargo downgraded the electric-vehicle maker to

"underweight" from "equal weight".

AI giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) inched 0.6% up following its 7.1%

jump in the previous session.

Dollar Tree ( DLTR ) lost 8.5% after the discount chain

store group said it would close nearly 1,000 stores in the first

half of the year and incurred a net loss for the previous

quarter, hurt by an over $1 billion goodwill impairment charge.

Peer Dollar General also slid 2.7%.

Intel ( INTC ) shed 1.5% after a report that the Pentagon

had pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a

chip grant to the company.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ), Marathon

Digital ( MARA ) and Bit Digital ( BTBT ) added 1.3% to 4.6% as

bitcoin prices bustled to their third straight intraday

record high of $73,678.

GE HealthCare Technologies ( GEHC ) was down 5.6% as General

Electric ( GE ) is to cut its stake in the medical equipment

firm.