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Dell falls after forecasting drop in FY26 gross margin

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HP falls on downbeat quarterly profit forecast

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January PCE price index data due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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Futures up: Dow 0.34%, S&P 500 0.35%, Nasdaq 0.29%

(Updates with analyst comment)

By Johann M Cherian and Sukriti Gupta

Feb 28 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures rose slightly on Friday after a

volatile week as investors looked ahead to crucial inflation

data that is expected to guide the Federal Reserve's monetary

policy decisions.

At 06:58 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 149 points,

or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 20.5 points, or 0.35%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 59 points, or 0.29%.

The Personal Consumption Expenditure index, the Fed's

preferred inflation gauge, is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. The data is

expected to show prices increased by 2.5% in January on an

annual basis, compared with a 2.6% rise in the month before.

Excluding volatile items such as food and energy, the index

is forecast to rise 2.6% in the previous month, compared with a

2.8% increase in December.

Friday's report will be key for investors trying to gauge

the central bank's next policy move, after policymakers

reiterated a hawkish stance on interest rates. The fear is that

the new Trump administration's policies, especially trade

restrictions, could potentially lead to a rise in domestic

inflation.

"Tariff talk is also stoking inflation fears... any

surprise (in the PCE data) beyond 2.6% could spell trouble for

markets against a backdrop of tepid economic data and fading

hopes for further interest cuts," said Derren Nathan, head of

equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Traders see the Fed lowering borrowing costs by 25 basis

points for the first time this year in July, according to data

compiled by LSEG, and investors will assess comments from

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee later in the day.

Multiple recent reports suggesting a stalling economy and

concerns that tech companies such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) might be overspending on

artificial-intelligence infrastructure have put Wall Street's

main indexes on track for monthly declines.

The benchmark S&P 500 logged declines in five of the

past six sessions and is set for its biggest one-month drop

since April 2024. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is down more

than 8% from its all-time high and is headed for its steepest

one-month fall since September 2023.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) edged up 0.7% in premarket trading after an 8.5%

slide in the previous session, which saw $274 billion of its

market value evaporate after the chip giant's

weaker-than-expected quarterly gross margin forecast

overshadowed an upbeat revenue outlook.

Dell lost 3% after the PC maker forecast a decline

in its adjusted gross margin rate for fiscal year 2026, hit by

higher building costs for AI servers.

Peer HP Inc ( HPQ ) fell 2.7% after its quarterly profit

forecasts missed expectations.

Megacaps such as Alphabet and Meta edged

up 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively, while rate-sensitive banks such

as JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ) rose 0.5%, while Bank of America ( BAC )

inched up 0.3%.

Trump's latest threat to slap an extra 10% duty on imports

from China hit U.S.-listed China stocks such as Alibaba

and Xpeng, which fell 4% and 7.7%, respectively.

Trump also said his proposed 25% tariffs on Mexican and

Canadian goods would take effect on Tuesday.

Crypto stocks such as MicroStrategy ( MSTR ) dropped 2.2%

and Coinbase lost 3.2% tracking bitcoin prices,

which fell below $80,000.