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Futures up: Dow 0.33%, S&P 0.33%, Nasdaq 0.48%

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on

Thursday as investors awaited a raft of economic data, including

the producer prices numbers, ahead of a central bank meeting

next week.

All eyes are on February producer prices data, due at 8:30

a.m. ET, which will offer insights into the inflation picture

and the retail sales figures that could provide additional clues

about consumer spending patterns.

Also on tap is the weekly jobless claims data at the same

time, a marker of the strength of the labor market.

Tuesday's marginally hotter-than-expected consumer price

data failed to dampen hopes for rate cuts by the Federal Reserve

in the coming months, with traders seeing a 69% chance that the

first rate cut will come in June, according to the CME's

FedWatch Tool.

"Action Economics reminds us that inflation is coming down,

but very slowly, which will likely keep the FOMC (Federal Open

Market Committee) awaiting further reports to confirm that

prices are cooling," said Sam Stovall, chief investment

strategist at CFRA, in a note.

The slew of economic data comes ahead of the Fed's policy

meeting next week, where the focus will be on cues about how

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

"With no rate cut expected, the focus will be squarely on

dot plots and potential shifts," Stovall said.

At 05:00 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 129 points,

or 0.33%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 17.25 points, or

0.33%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 88.5 points, or

0.48%.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 closed lower on

Wednesday, as investors took profits from high-flying chip

stocks ahead of the key data.

Chipmakers such as Micron Technology ( MU ) and Intel ( INTC )

recovered 0.8% and 1.1%, respectively, in premarket

trading, after falling more than 3% each in the previous

session.

Most megacap growth and technology stocks inched higher, but

artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) slipped 0.6%,

while Tesla shed 1.5%.

Shares of Robinhood Markets ( HOOD ) jumped 11.1% after the

trading app operator said its assets under custody rose 16% in

February.

Citigroup ( C/PN ) added 1.7% after Goldman Sachs raised the

lender's rating to "buy" from "neutral".

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Asset Management's real estate head

said it would resume "actively investing" in U.S. commercial

property this year because the market was bottoming out.

Investors are looking ahead to the global GTC developer

conference from March 18 to 21 for AI-related announcements.