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

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

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Futures: Dow down 0.02%, S&P 500 down 0.01%, Nasdaq up

0.07%

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At least three Fed speakers to speak on Wednesday

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American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ) drops after withdrawing FY

forecast

(Updates with analyst comment)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap

May 14 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures were flat on Wednesday as investors

focused on potential developments on the trade front after a

strong start to the week, when soft inflation numbers and

Washington's trade truce with China boosted sentiment.

Wall Street has been riding on optimism since the

weekend, as the United States and China decided to hit pause on

their fierce tariff dispute and signaled a joint effort to stave

off a global economic slowdown.

The U.S. will temporarily lower the extra tariffs it imposed

on Chinese imports to 30% from 145% for three months, while

Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125% in the

same period.

Tuesday's close saw the S&P 500 finally elbowing

back into positive territory for the year, a milestone not seen

since late February. However, the benchmark index has a lot of

ground to cover and is more than 4% off the record peaks it hit

earlier this year.

Both the S&P 500 and the tech-laden Nasdaq have

managed to recapture levels last seen before U.S. President

Donald Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement,

which had cast a pall over a broad swathe of international

trade.

A 90-day pause announced on April 9 for countries other than

China, along with solid earnings reports and a limited U.S.-UK

trade agreement last week, helped the benchmark indexes claw

back.

Trump began a meeting with Syria's president in Saudi Arabia

on Wednesday, with investors looking to see if a trade deal

would materialize during the U.S. president's four-day trip to

the Gulf region.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Tuesday after

data showed U.S. consumer prices rebounded moderately in April,

with headline inflation rising 0.2%, compared with economists'

estimate of a 0.3% increase and versus a 0.1% drop in March.

"From a market point of view, the main relief was also that

tariffs weren't showing up in a major way in consumer prices,

even though April included the 10% universal baseline tariffs,

and much higher tariffs on China," Deutsche Bank analysts said

in a note.

Current bets indicate at least two 25-basis-point

interest-rate cuts by the end of the year, with the first

lowering potentially arriving in September, according to LSEG

data.

At least three U.S. Federal Reserve officials including Fed

Governor Christopher Waller are slated to speak on the day.

The main event of the week will be Fed Chair Jerome Powell's

public remarks on Thursday, which will be dissected for any

hawkish or dovish undertones.

At 06:50 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 9 points, or

0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 0.75 points, or 0.01%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 15.25 points, or 0.07%.

Tesla and Nvidia ( NVDA ) led gains among major

megacap and growth stocks, both rising close to 2% each in

premarket trading.

On the other hand, American Eagle Outfitters ( AEO ) dropped

13.5% after the apparel company withdrew its annual forecasts,

citing tariffs-fueled economic uncertainty.

With earnings season coming to a close, results from retail

giant Walmart ( WMT ) will be on the radar later in the week.