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

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

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Futures: Dow up 0.02%, S&P 500 down 0.08%, Nasdaq down

0.10%

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Workday rises after Elliott builds a more than $2 bln

stake

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Report says Chinese tech firms to stop buying Nvidia's ( NVDA )

chips

(Updates prices)

By Purvi Agarwal and Sukriti Gupta

Sept 17 (Reuters) -

Wall Street futures were flat to slightly lower on

Wednesday, as markets were guarded ahead of a widely anticipated

interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve later in the day, and

Nvidia ( NVDA ) dipped after a report Chinese tech firms might stop

buying its chips.

The U.S. central bank is expected to reduce borrowing costs

by at least 25 basis points at 2 p.m. ET, a move priced in by

investors after a series of economic indicators indicated a

weakening jobs market.

Markets will closely watch Chair Jerome Powell's speech as

well as the "dot plot" projections to gauge the extent of

interest-rate cuts that could be delivered this year and the

next.

Traders are expecting a rate reduction totaling about 68 bps

by the end of the year, according to data compiled by LSEG.

"Investors will be watching whether Fed officials push back

against market expectations for a series of rate cuts extending

into next year," analysts at UBS Global Wealth Management said.

"Any hawkish element could challenge the currently positive

investor sentiment and trigger market volatility."

Meanwhile, Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 1.7% in premarket trading

after the Financial Times reported that China's internet

regulator had instructed the country's biggest tech companies to

stop buying all of the AI leader's chips.

At 06:54 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 10 points, or

0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 5.5 points, or 0.08%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 24.75 points, or 0.1%.

The Fed meeting will be a test of Wall Street's recent

rally, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting record highs in

the last six sessions, boosted by rate-cut expectations and

revived enthusiasm around AI-stock-linked trading.

Wall Street's main indexes have gained so far in September,

a month deemed bad historically for U.S. equities. The benchmark

S&P 500 has shed 1.5% on average since 2000, data compiled by

LSEG showed.

New Fortress Energy ( NFE ) soared 42.5% before the bell

after the company reached an agreement to supply liquefied

natural gas to the Puerto Rican government.

Workday gained 8% after activist investor Elliott

Management said on Tuesday it had built a stake of more than $2

billion in the human resources software provider.