(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

*

Lennar ( LEN ) drops as home delivery forecast falls short of

estimates

*

Chegg ( CHGG ) up after announcing job cuts as part of

restructuring plan

*

Futures mixed: Dow down 0.10%, S&P 500 flat, Nasdaq up

0.11%

(Updated at 7:13 a.m. ET)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Ankika Biswas

June 18 (Reuters) - Nasdaq futures hovered around record

highs on Tuesday, boosted by chip stocks, while those tracking

the S&P 500 and the Dow were subdued ahead of retail sales data

and commentary from a slew of Federal Reserve officials.

Technology stocks lifted the benchmark S&P 500 to its

fifth record high close in six sessions on Monday, and the

Nasdaq to its sixth consecutive record close.

Megacaps Apple, Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Nvidia ( NVDA )

edged higher between 0.4% and 0.8% in premarket trading

on Tuesday.

Among chip stocks, Broadcom ( AVGO ) climbed 3% after

hitting a record high on Monday, while Qualcomm ( QCOM ),

U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co

and Micron were also up between 1.6% and 3%.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index hit a record

high in the previous session.

Focus now moves to fresh economic data in the United States,

where May retail sales will be closely watched, as well as

industrial production and business inventory data.

Comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials will also be

scrutinized for clues on how the central bank's members view the

current economic situation and path ahead for monetary policy,

after recent projections showed the Fed now sees just one

interest rate cut this year instead of the three previously

forecast.

Markets have pounced on a string of recent economic data

indicating some weakness among consumers and in the labor

market, and interest rate futures still reflect expectations of

more than one rate cut this year, according to LSEG data.

"The depth and pace of the cutting cycle is still to be

determined, but we see two cuts this calendar year," John Velis,

Americas macro strategist at BNY Mellon, said.

Six Fed speakers are scheduled for Tuesday, including voting

committee members Thomas Barkin and Adriana Kugler, as well as

Susan Collins, Austan Goolsbee, Lorie Logan, and Alberto

Musalem.

Hopes for multiple interest rate cuts this year, enthusiasm

for artificial intelligence linked companies and strong earnings

from other tech firms have helped support equities, although

rallies over the past few months have largely been on the back

of a handful of heavily weighted stocks.

Citigroup raised the year-end target for the S&P 500

to 5,600 points from 5,100, representing a 2.3% upside from the

index's previous close.

Futures tracking the Russell 2000 slipped on

Tuesday, with the small-cap Russell index already having

lost more than 2% for the month.

At 7:13 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 37 points,

or 0.1%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 1.5 points, or 0.03%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 21.75 points, or 0.11%.

Homebuilder Lennar ( LEN ) fell 3.1% after forecasting

lower-than-expected third-quarter home deliveries.

NextEra Energy dropped 5.3%, extending losses from

the previous session after the utility firm announced plans to

sell $2 billion of equity units.

Edtech company Chegg ( CHGG ) jumped 18.8% after announcing

job cuts as part of a restructuring plan.

Merck ( MRK ) rose 1.4% after the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration approved its next-generation vaccine to protect

adults against the pneumococcal disease.

Markets will be closed on Wednesday for the Juneteenth

holiday.