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Eli Lilly ( LLY ) slips on Novo's obesity drug update

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Weekly jobless claims data due 8:30 a.m. ET

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Futures up: Dow 0.09%, S&P 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.37%

(Updated at 6:55 a.m. ET/1155 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amruta Khandekar

March 7 (Reuters) -

Wall Street futures edged higher on Thursday ahead of more

economic data and commentary from Jerome Powell after the

Federal Reserve chair stuck to the script overnight by saying

the central bank still expects to cut rates later this year.

Powell said rate reductions will "likely be appropriate"

later this year, "if the economy evolves broadly as expected"

and once officials gain more confidence in inflation's steady

decline.

The comments kept alive investors' expectations of an

interest rate cut in June, giving a boost to U.S equities, which

had faltered in the days leading up to the testimony.

Wall Street's main indexes closed higher on Wednesday,

with rate-sensitive technology and chip stocks in the lead.

"The much awaited Powell testimony did not provide many

surprises. We still expect a 25bp (basis point) cut starting in

June and 75-100bp of cuts this year," Mohit Kumar, Jefferies'

chief economist for Europe, said in a note.

All eyes will be back on Powell who is set to wrap up his

two-day testimony on Thursday.

Investors also awaited jobless claims data due at 8:30 a.m.

ET (1330 GMT), which, along with the crucial nonfarm payrolls

report on Friday, could provide further details on the strength

of the U.S. labor market.

A resilient labor market could make it difficult for the Fed

to start cutting interest rates in June, given risks of a

pick-up in inflationary pressures.

At 6:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 33 points, or

0.09%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 10.25 points, or 0.2%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 66.75 points, or 0.37%.

Electric carmaker Tesla lagged megacap growth and

technology peers in premarket trading, down 1.6%.

Chip stocks such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Micron Technology ( MU )

gained 1.9% and 3.3%, respectively, and were set to

extend their rally from the previous session.

Lingerie maker Victoria's Secret & Co dropped 30.7%

on a weak annual forecast.

Eli Lilly ( LLY ) shed 1.6% after rival Novo Nordisk said

early trial data for its highly anticipated experimental drug,

amycretin, showed that participants had a weight loss of 13.1%

after 12 weeks.