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Futures up: Dow 0.22%, S&P 500 0.10%, Nasdaq 0.05%

Aug 11 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little

changed on Monday as investors geared up for a busy week, while

major chip companies seemed caught in the middle of the latest

twist in trade policy ahead of a key tariff deadline with China.

Semiconductor giant Nvidia ( NVDA ) dropped 1% in premarket

trading and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) lost 2%.

A U.S. official told Reuters that the companies had agreed

to give the United States government 15% of revenue from the

sales of their advanced computer chips to China, days after the

Commerce Department began issuing licenses for the sale of

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) H20 chips.

Sale of the semiconductors was an integral issue in the U.S.

agreement with China signed earlier this year and could strain

the relationship between the two economies just before Tuesday's

deadline for the deal's expiration.

"The Trump administration reckons higher prices and

snarled-up supply chains are an acceptable price to pay to

encourage more U.S. manufacturing," said Susannah Streeter, head

of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

"The unusual arrangement is another example of a mega tech

company acquiescing to the U.S. administration's demands, to

gain an upper hand as trade relations are redrawn."

Markets also await clarity on the sector tariffs U.S.

President Donald Trump has announced.

At 05:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 98 points, or

0.22%, with 7,922 contracts changing hands, S&P 500 E-minis

were up 6.25 points, or 0.10%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis

were up 11.5 points, or 0.05%.

Traders took breather after last week's rally helped the S&P

500 and the Nasdaq log their strongest weekly

performance in more than a month.

Investors expect the recent shake-up at the U.S. Federal

Reserve and signs of labor market weakness could nudge the

central bank into adopting a dovish monetary policy stance later

this year, fueling much of the optimism.

Tuesday's consumer inflation report will either cast more

doubt or offer clarity for investors, who are currently

anticipating the Fed will lower borrowing costs by about 60

basis points by December, according to data compiled by LSEG.

A better-than-feared earnings season was also a relief and

BofA's monthly fund manager survey showed that owning megacap

stocks was once again the most popular trade.

Apple ( AAPL ) was a standout last week following its

biggest weekly showing in five years, after the iPhone maker

unveiled a series of U.S. investment pledges. The company's

shares were down 0.7% on Monday.

Gene therapy developers fell, with Sarepta Therapeutics ( SRPT )

dropping 7.6% and Capricor Therapeutics ( CAPR )

declined 9% as Vinay Prasad, a fierce critic of U.S. COVID-19

vaccine and mask mandates, was expected to return to the Food

and Drug Administration.

Intel ( INTC ) was up 1.6% and focus turned to a report that

said CEO Lip-Bu Tan was expected to visit the White House after

Trump called for his removal last week.

In geopolitical news, Trump and Russia's President Vladimir

Putin are expected to meet on Friday to try and negotiate an end

to the Ukraine war, which could also affect the outlook for

crude prices.