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Futures: Dow up 0.03%, S&P up 0.03%, Nasdaq off 0.04%

March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were

little changed on Friday as investors braced for a Federal

Reserve meeting next week that could provide clues on the timing

of the central bank's interest-rate cuts.

Wall Street was set to end marginally higher this week in

spite of hotter-than-expected consumer prices and producer

prices data pointing to sticky inflation.

Higher inflation adds pressure on the Fed to keep interest

rates elevated, pushing traders to rein in bets of a June rate

cut by the Fed to 60% from 73% last week, according to the CME

FedWatch Tool.

All eyes are now on the Fed meeting next week and how soon

the central bank could kick off the rate-easing cycle.

"At the Fed, the big question next week is what they'll

signal in their new dot plot, and whether the median dot still

points towards three cuts for 2024, as happened in December,"

Jim Reid, Deutsche Bank's global head of economics and thematic

research, said in a note.

At 05:04 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 13 points, or

0.03%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.03%, and

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 6.5 points, or 0.04%.

Semiconductor stocks fell on Thursday and were on

track to snap their three-week winning streak as investors took

profits, awaiting the global GTC developer conference from March

18 to 21 for AI-related announcements.

Tesla climbed 1% in premarket trading, after two

sessions of more than 4% losses each.

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals ( MDGL ) jumped 25.4% after the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its drug for a fatty

liver disease known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Adobe shed 11.4% after it forecast second-quarter

revenue below analysts' estimates, following stiff competition

and weak demand for its AI-integrated photography, illustration

and video.

Ulta Beauty ( ULTA ) slid 6.6% after it forecast full-year

profit below Wall Street estimates as elevated supply-chain

costs and increased promotions hurt its margins.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ), Marathon

Digital ( MARA ) and Coinbase eased between 5% and 6%

as bitcoin fell.

U.S. Steel slipped 0.7%, extending the previous

session's losses. President Joe Biden said on Thursday the

company, which has agreed to be bought by Japan's Nippon Steel ( NISTF )

for $14.9 billion, must remain a domestically owned

American firm.