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Futures: Dow down 0.03%, S&P 500 down 0.02%, Nasdaq up

0.11%

Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. stock futures steadied on

Thursday as investors awaited PPI data to gauge the Federal

Reserve's interest-rate path after the previous day's inflation

shock, while the prospect of Russia-Ukraine peace talks

encouraged some risk-taking.

The focus will be on the January producer price index

report, expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, with economists polled by

Reuters expecting a monthly uptick of 0.3%.

A consumer price index reading on Wednesday showed the

highest increase in prices in nearly a year and a half in

January, underscoring the U.S. Federal Reserve's messaging that

it was in no rush to resume cutting interest rates anytime soon.

"While the Fed is cognizant of the pattern of early-year

inflation strength, the print will do little to ease

policymakers' inflation anxieties, particularly given the

context of accelerating labor demand, increased inflation

expectations, and incoming tariff effects," economists at BNP

Paribas said in a note.

Responding to the uptick in inflation, U.S. President Donald

Trump, who assumed office on January 20 and had campaigned on

the promise of lowering prices, emphasized that the latest data

should not be attributed to his administration.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, on his second day of testimony to

Congress, said the data was further evidence that the central

bank's battle with rising prices wasn't finished.

Traders currently expect only one 25-basis-point

interest-rate cut from the Fed this year, according to data

compiled by LSEG.

Persistent signs of rising inflation could mean the central

bank's policymakers will be cautious about cutting rates at all

this year. The last reading of the personal consumption

expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge,

showed the fastest rise in months.

Meanwhile, Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin and

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy had expressed a desire

for peace in separate phone calls with him on Wednesday.

At 05:03 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 12 points,

or 0.03%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 1.5 points, or

0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 24.25 points, or

0.11%.

Most megacap and growth stocks fell in premarket trading,

though Tesla was an outlier, advancing 2.5%.

Trade Desk ( TTD ) dropped 27.1% after the ad tech firm

forecast its first-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates.

Reddit ( RDDT ) shed 14.3% after the social media platform

missed market estimates for daily active unique visitors in the

fourth quarter.

Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) added 6.2% after the

network-equipment maker raised its annual revenue forecast.

Robinhood Markets ( HOOD ) jumped 15.7% after the trading

platform beat expectations for fourth-quarter profit.

Farm-equipment maker Deere & Co ( DE ), aerospace supplier

Howmet Aerospace ( HWM ) and ratings agency Moody's are

among the prominent companies scheduled to report earnings

before the bell on Thursday.