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Futures up: Dow 0.2%, Nasdaq 0.2%, S&P 500 0.1%

Aug 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher

on Thursday ahead of another batch of economic data, after

benign consumer inflation figures reinforced hopes for the

Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates next month.

Most megacap and growth stocks were up in premarket trading.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) was an outlier with a 0.5% decline.

The S&P 500 on Wednesday extended its winning streak

to five sessions, boosted by softer inflation data, but the

Nasdaq barely scraped into positive territory as

Alphabet and some megacap stocks weighed.

Investors have kept a cautious eye on this week's data

releases - the last set of economic indicators before Fed

Chairman Jerome Powell delivers a much-anticipated speech at

Jackson Hole next week.

On tap today is the Commerce Department's retail sales data

at 8:30 a.m. ET, which is expected to show a 0.3% growth in

retail sales in July on a monthly basis. Ahead of that,

Walmart's quarterly results is expected to shed more light on

the health of the American consumer.

"The bounce back in auto sales is expected to support the

headline number, but the market will focus on the retail sales

control group," said an ING note.

"The consensus is 0.1% MoM and any MoM decline here (-0.1%,

-0.2% are possible) could weigh on the short end of the US rates

curve and the dollar."

Initial jobless claims for the week ended Aug. 10 are

forecast to increase marginally to 235,000 from 233,000 a week

earlier.

Traders currently see a 64.5% chance of Fed cutting rates by

25 basis points in September from being evenly split between a

25- and a 50-basis-point cut before the inflation data,

according to CME's FedWatch Tool.

Comments from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, due

at 1:10 p.m. ET, will be closely eyed for any clues on the Fed's

interest-rate path.

Meanwhile, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told the

Financial Times that he is open to an interest rate cut in

September, adding that the U.S. central bank can't "afford to be

late" to ease monetary policy.

At 05:01 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 80 points, or

0.2%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 38.5 points, or 0.2%

and S&P 500 E-minis were up 6.25 points, or 0.11%.

Among other movers, Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) rose 6.5% after

it forecast better-than-expected first-quarter revenue on

Wednesday and said it was cutting 7% of its global workforce.

Nike ( NKE ) climbed 3.0% as billionaire investor William

Ackman built new stakes in sportswear company and investment

management company Brookfield during the second quarter.

(Reporting by Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb

Chakrabarty)