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

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April producer inflation due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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Meme stocks extend gains from Monday

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Alibaba falls after Q4 profit drop

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Futures up: Dow 0.07%, S&P 0.02%, Nasdaq 0.01%

(Updated at 06:51 a.m. ET/ 1051 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shristi Achar A

May 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little

changed on Tuesday as investors awaited producer price inflation

data and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later

in the day for cues on the monetary policy path in the world's

largest economy.

The producer price index (PPI) for final demand is expected

to have edged up 0.3% last month, according to economists polled

by Reuters, after increasing by an unrevised 0.2% in March.

The PPI is expected to increase by 2.2% in the 12 months

through April, after adding 2.1% in the prior month.

Sticky inflation and persistent labor market strength have

prompted financial markets and most economists to push back

expectations for an initial Fed interest rate cut.

Traders now see a 49.6% chance that the central bank will

ease rates by 25 basis points in September, according to the CME

FedWatch Tool, from 44% last month. At the start of the year,

markets were expecting a first rate cut as early as March.

Still, stocks have rallied so far this year, with all three

major U.S. indexes hovering near fresh record highs, underpinned

by better-than-expected earnings for the first quarter and hopes

that the Fed will cut rates sometime this year.

Focus will be more on Wednesday's consumer price figures to

help assess whether the upside surprises in the first quarter

were a blip or a worrying trend.

"While official inflation prints have been higher than

expected for the first three months of this year, we continue to

expect more favorable data in the coming months amid a

moderation of housing costs, a softer labor market, and a

slowdown in consumer spending growth," strategists at UBS Global

Wealth Management said in a note.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at 10:00 a.m. ET.

At 06:51 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 26 points, or

0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 1.25 points, or 0.02% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.01%.

U.S.-listed shares of Alibaba slipped 2.5% in

premarket trading after reporting a 86% drop in fourth-quarter

profit.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled a bundle of

steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese imports including

electric vehicles, computer chips and medical products.

U.S.-listed shares of Chinese EV makers Li Auto and

Xpeng slid 3.1% and 2.5%, respectively.

GameStop ( GME ) jumped 57.5%, set to extend its rally after

flag bearer Roaring Kitty posted on X.com for the first time in

three years.

Other 2021 meme rally participants and highly shorted stocks

such as AMC Entertainment ( AMC ) and Koss Corp ( KOSS ) rose

60.3% and 16.2%, respectively.

On Holding climbed nearly 15% after the footwear

maker posted a beat-and-raise quarter for sales on strong demand

for its running shoes.

(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shristi Achar A in

Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Devika Syamnath)