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Futures up: Dow 0.23%, S&P 500 0.17%, Nasdaq 0.23%

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Futures tracking the S&P 500 and the

Nasdaq indexes were pinned at record highs on Wednesday, buoyed

by increasing confidence that the Federal Reserve could restart

its monetary policy easing cycle next month.

Signs that U.S. taxes on imports have not fully filtered

into headline consumer prices sparked a relief rally on Wall

Street in the previous session, with the benchmark S&P 500

marking its first record high close in two weeks.

Despite core inflation marking its biggest jump since the

start of the year, investors factored in recent weakness in the

job market and a shake-up at the Federal Reserve as they leaned

in favor of a potential dovish move by the central bank in

September.

Interest rate futures now reflect a 98% chance of a 25 basis

points interest rate cut, according to data compiled by LSEG,

compared with 88.8% on Tuesday. The central bank last lowered

borrowing costs in December.

"The U.S. inflation reading was in line with market

expectations, and the downside risks in the labor market are

likely to outweigh inflation concerns," said Mark Haefele, chief

investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management.

"Our base case remains that the Fed will resume rate cuts at

the September meeting and continue cutting for a total of 100

bps."

At 5:35 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 104 points, or

0.23%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 11.5 points, or 0.17% and

Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 54.25 points, or 0.23%.

The CBOE volatility index, popularly referred to as

Wall Street's fear gauge, dropped to 14.55 - its lowest since

January.

Rate-sensitive banking stocks such as Bank of America ( BAC )

and Citigroup ( C/PN ) were marginally higher in premarket

trading after the broader sector logged its biggest

daily rise in three months on Tuesday.

Analysts said a steepening yield curve following the

inflation report could help bank earnings as lenders could

borrow cheap and lend at a higher rate.

Nomura was the first among brokerages to bring forward its

easing forecast after the data and now expects the Fed to ease

interest rates by 25 basis points in September.

Later in the day, investors will weigh in on the remarks of

a number of policymakers, especially Chicago Fed President

Austan Goolsbee - a Federal Open Market Committee voting member

this year.

Earnings are also in focus. CoreWeave ( CRWV ), which is

backed by Nvidia ( NVDA ), lost 9.2% after the AI data center

operator reported a bigger-than-expected net loss.

Investors were also keeping an eye on developments on the

China revenue-sharing deal the U.S. government signed with chip

companies such as Nvidia ( NVDA ) and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) that

the White House said could be expanded to other companies in the

sector.

Venture Global ( VG ) gained 9.3% after the LNG major won a

legal battle against Shell over its failure to deliver

liquefied natural gas under long-term contracts starting in

2023.

Crude prices traded around $60 per barrel ahead of a virtual

meeting between Donald Trump and European leaders on the

Russo-Ukraine conflict, two days before the U.S. president meets

Russian President Vladimir Putin.