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Futures down: Dow 0.18%, S&P 500 0.73%, Nasdaq 1.24%

July 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slid on

Wednesday, with those tracking the Nasdaq 100 dropping over 1%

as investors sold off megacap tech and chip shares and piled

into lagging areas of the market such as small-cap stocks.

Megacaps such as Apple ( AAPL ), Microsoft ( MSFT ) and

Alphabet slumped in premarket trading, dropping

between 0.7% and 1.5%.

Shares of semiconductor companies also fell, with AI-chip

favorite Nvidia ( NVDA ) sliding 3.1% and ASML dropping

6.3% after a report that the Biden Administration was weighing

severe trade restrictions in a crackdown on Chinese chips.

Elsewhere, U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor

Manufacturing were down 3.5% after Republican

presidential candidate Donald Trump said Taiwan should pay the

U.S. for its defense.

However, futures tracking the small-cap Russell 2000

rose 0.2%. The index has rallied over the past

five sessions as investors have shifted focus away from the

banner growth in technology companies to underperforming areas

of the market, on the back of growing bets that the Federal

Reserve is nearing the start of monetary policy easing.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500

also hit all-time closing highs on Tuesday.

Trade Nation senior market analyst David Morrison also cited

profit-taking as a likely cause for Wednesday's dip in futures.

"It could be the rally has been running on fumes recently...

what we're seeing now is a generalised pullback, which is

totally consistent with consolidation and profit-taking after

hitting record highs in the major indices," Morrison said.

Firmer bets on a Fed rate cut in September as well as rising

expectations that former President Donald Trump will be back in

the White House in November after the assassination attempt have

helped lift stocks over the past few sessions.

Investors will focus on comments from Fed officials Thomas

Barkin and Christopher Waller later in the day for clues on how

policymakers have assessed recent inflation, employment and

retail sales data.

Corporate earnings are also in focus, with Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ )

and Northern Trust ( NTRS ) among those scheduled to

report before the bell.

On the economic data front, housing starts and industrial

production data for June are also on deck.

At 5:35 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 76 points,

or 0.18%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 41.5 points, or

0.73%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 255 points, or

1.24%.

Among single movers, trucking firm JB Hunt Transport

Services fell 3.0% on reporting a 24% drop in

second-quarter profit after markets closed on Tuesday.

Spirit Airlines ( SAVE ) slumped 5.7% after the company

lowered its second-quarter revenue outlook, citing

lower-than-expected non-ticket revenue.