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Futures up: Dow 0.04%, S&P 0.11%, Nasdaq 0.18%

March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched

higher on Friday, setting Wall Street on course for strong

weekly gains as investors cheered the Federal Reserve sticking

to its rate-easing stance and awaited commentary from Chair

Powell later in the day.

All three main U.S. indexes hit fresh record closing highs

in the previous session as chip stocks rallied after Micron

Technology's upbeat forecast and the Fed signaled it was still

on track for three interest-rate cuts this year.

Traders now see a 74% chance of the first rate cut hitting

in June, from 56% at the start of this week, according to the

CME's FedWatch Tool.

Investors will be closely monitoring commentary from a host

of central bankers expected later in the day, including Fed

Chair Jerome Powell, for further cues on the central bank's

monetary policy trajectory.

The blue-chip Dow ended Thursday less than 1% away

from the 40,000-mark for the first time. Along with the

benchmark S&P 500, the Dow was on track to its best

weekly performance so far this year.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was set to notch

its best week since mid-January.

At 05:02 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 18 points, or

0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.75 points, or 0.11%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 32.75 points, or 0.18%.

Most rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks

advanced in premarket trading.

Many of these market leaders were set for strong weekly

gains, with Tesla leading the charge. The Philadelphia

Semiconductor Index has gained nearly 3% so far this

week.

Nike ( NKE ) fell 6.8% after the world's largest sportswear

maker warned that its revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025

would shrink by a low-single-digit percentage, as it scales back

on franchises to save costs.

Lululemon Athletica ( LULU ) forecast annual revenue and

profit below expectations as demand wanes for the apparel

retailer's premium athleisure, mainly in North America, sending

its shares down 12.5%.

Social media platform Reddit ( RDDT ) slid 2.5%, a day after

its strong market debut.

FedEx ( FDX ) gained 12.5% after the company beat Wall

Street expectations for quarterly profit and operating margin in

the parcel delivery firm's largest unit, Express, which rose

2.5% in the February fiscal quarter from 1.2% a year ago.

While most S&P 500 companies will not report on the current

quarter until after mid-April, investors are likely to pay close

attention to earnings for firms such as Nike ( NKE ) and FedEx ( FDX ) that come

earlier, for clues on how the rest of the season will go.