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Futures off: Dow 0.01%, S&P 0.02%, Nasdaq 0.02%

March 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were

little changed on Tuesday as investors remained cautious ahead

of the start of the Federal Reserve's meeting.

Dow e-minis were down 5 points, or 0.01%, at 05:02

a.m. ET. S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.25 points, or 0.02%

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4.5 points, or 0.02%.

Wall Street closed higher on Monday, with the Nasdaq

bouncing back from two small weekly losses, as growth stocks

such as Alphabet and Tesla boosted the

tech-heavy index.

Most megacap growth stocks edged lower in premarket trading.

Investor darling Nvidia ( NVDA ) struggled for direction

after the chipmaker unveiled the Blackwell B200, an AI chip it

says is up to 30 times faster than its previous chip. Some

investors suggested the news was priced into the high-flying

stock.

Fellow chipmaker AMD dipped 1.7%, while Super Micro

Computer ( SMCI ), which makes AI-optimized servers with

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) chips, fell 1.6%.

All eyes are on U.S. central bankers who are expected to

hold rates steady at the end of their two-day meeting on

Wednesday.

But, investors are concerned that their new economic

projections may be a wild card, potentially signaling fewer

interest rate cuts and a later start to the policy easing.

Robust inflation data has pushed traders to pull back bets

of the first rate cut coming in June to 55.2% from 71% at the

start of last week, according to the CME Fedwatch Tool.

"With price rises still steamier than expected, signs of a

more watchful, wary Fed are likely to emerge from this meeting,"

said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves

Lansdown.

"However, the wave of exuberance is continuing among

investors still charged with enthusiasm about the seemingly

infinite possibilities that artificial intelligence will bring

to the corporate world."

Among other movers, crypto-exchange operator Coinbase Global ( COIN )

and miners Riot Blockchain and Marathon

Digital Holdings ( MARA ) shed between 4.3% and 6.5%, tracking

the sharp slide in bitcoin.

Spire Global ( SPIR ) rose 18.5% after the company announced

a collaboration with Nvidia ( NVDA ) for AI-driven weather prediction.