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* Futures up: Dow 0.24%, S&P 500 0.16%, Nasdaq 0.02%

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Futures tied to Wall Street's main

indexes inched higher on Thursday as crude oil prices fell and

investors awaited producer-price inflation data for clues on

inflation and the Federal Reserve's interest rate path.

Brent crude futures fell 1.9%, declining after six

straight sessions of gains as investors assessed prospects for

weaker global demand this year and higher U.S. crude stocks.

Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over

efforts to agree on a permanent end to the war in the Middle

East, according to a senior Iranian source, while traffic

through the vital Strait of Hormuz remained severely curtailed.

Investors await the July producer prices figures due at 8:30

a.m. ET as they looked for clues to the Federal Reserve's

interest rate path.

This follows benign July consumer inflation data that

strengthened expectations that the Fed would hold interest rates

steady at its next meeting.

Money market participants saw a 66% chance that the Fed

would hold rates steady, up from roughly even odds between a

rate hike and a pause on Wednesday, according to CME's Fed Watch

tool.

At 05:47 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 128 points, or 0.24%,

S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.16%, and Nasdaq 100

E-minis were up 5.5 points, or 0.02%.

PC makers Dell Technologies ( DELL ) and HP gained

4% and 1.8%, respectively, in premarket trading after earnings

from China's Lenovo ( LNVGF ) beat expectations.

Dow component Cisco Systems ( CSCO ) dropped 6% despite the

networking equipment maker forecasting fiscal 2027 revenue above

Wall Street expectations.

Cerebras Systems ( CBRS ) slumped more than 18% after the AI

chip designer missed quarterly revenue estimates. Its shares had

rallied about 24% in the last four sessions.

Most megacap and growth stocks were trading higher, with

Alphabet, Amazon ( AMZN ) and Apple ( AAPL ) all up

about 0.5% each.

The earnings calendar is thinning out, with more than 430

S&P 500 companies having already reported for the quarter

ended June.

Overall, robust earnings in several sectors have proven to

be the latest tailwind for U.S. stocks after a rocky start to

the second half of 2026.

The Dow and the S&P 500 were hovering close to

their record highs while the Nasdaq was around 2% away

from its all-time highs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has rebounded after slumping to more

than 10% below its all-time highs just two weeks ago, as strong

earnings from AI hyperscalers and some technology stocks revived

enthusiasm for the AI trade.

Later in the day, a weekly jobless claims report along with

commentary from Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack and

Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, was on investors' radar.