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* Futures up: Dow 0.19%, S&P 500 0.41%, Nasdaq 0.51%

March 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on

Monday with shares of Meta among top gainers after a report said

the megacap was prepping for sweeping AI-related layoffs, even

as elevated crude prices due to the raging Middle East conflict

kept risk-taking in check.

Meta gained 3% in premarket trading after a Reuters

report said it was planning to shrink 20% or more of its

workforce to offset costly artificial intelligence

infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought

about by AI-assisted workers.

The Instagram parent joins similar announcements made by

Amazon.com ( AMZN ) and Block earlier this year.

AI is also expected to stay in the spotlight this week, with

chip giant Nvidia's annual developer conference

scheduled later in the day, and results from Micron.

Electronics giant Taiwan's Foxconn also issued a

strong quarterly revenue forecast.

"If Jensen can show Nvidia has the hardware to lead not just

in building AI, but in powering its everyday use, this event

could be a key moment in building confidence that Nvidia will

remain the defining name in the next leg of the AI race," said

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, who

holds shares in the chip company.

Nvidia gained 1%, while Micron added 4% following a price

target hike by brokerage RBC. Tesla also gained 1%

after CEO Elon Musk said the company's Terafab project to make

artificial intelligence chips will launch in seven days.

Keeping investors cautious were crude prices pinned at $100

a barrel, as shipments through the crucial Strait of Hormuz

stayed mostly shut and U.S. President Donald Trump's demands for

a coalition to secure safe passage seemed to be in vain.

The impact of elevated energy costs is likely to be the main

focus of central bank meetings globally this week, with the

Federal Reserve also having to consider tariff costs and signs

of a weakening jobs market.

Rates are expected to be left unchanged at the end of the

Fed's two-day meeting on Wednesday, and traders have pushed back

their expectations for an interest rate cut of at least 25 basis

points to only after October, according to LSEG-compiled data,

from July seen last month.

At 5:10 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 88 points,

or 0.19%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 27.25 points,

or 0.41%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 124.25 points,

or 0.51%.

US EQUITIES HOLD UP BETTER THAN PEERS

Wall Street's main indexes have been fraught with volatility

since the war began as traders tried to gauge its

repercussions on the economy.

Despite logging declines over the past two weeks, U.S.

equities have fared better than global peers, buoyed by a

rebound in beaten-down technology stocks and as the country is a

net oil exporter.

The CBOE volatility index slipped 0.9 points to 26.31

on Monday, while futures tracking the rate-sensitive Russell

2000 index were marginally higher.

On the data front, February industrial production and the

New York Fed's manufacturing index are due later in the day.

Elsewhere, top U.S. and Chinese economic officials were due

to conclude talks in Paris, with potential areas of agreement in

agriculture, critical minerals and managed trade that could be

taken up by U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi

Jinping in Beijing, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Investors were also monitoring moves in currency markets as

the Japanese yen hovered close to 160 per dollar - lowest

levels since the last central bank intervention.

Energy stocks including Occidental and

ConocoPhillips ( COP ) climbed over 1% each, while travel stocks

including Delta and Norwegian Cruise were

steady.

Crypto stocks such as Strategy added 2.7% as

bitcoin rallied over 2%.