* Futures down: Dow 0.34%, S&P 500 0.24%, Nasdaq 0.13%

* February PCE at 2.8% on annual basis, meets estimates

* Applied Digital ( APLD ) falls after quarterly loss widens

* Coreweave ( CRWV ) gains after expanded deal with Meta

(Updates after inflation data)

By Purvi Agarwal and Avinash P

April 9 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes pointed

to a lower open on Thursday after the indexes rallied in the

previous session, as cracks emerged in the fragile Middle East

ceasefire, while investors parsed through an in-line inflation

reading.

President Donald Trump vowed to retain military assets in

the Middle East until a peace deal was reached with Iran and

warned of a major escalation if it failed to comply, while

Tehran said there would be no deal unless Israel ceases bombing

Lebanon.

Few signs of traffic moving through the Strait of Hormuz

heightened uncertainty around energy shipments, leading to a

rebound in oil prices, though they remained below $100 a barrel.

U.S. energy stocks inched slightly higher in premarket trading.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their biggest one-day

jumps in over a week on Wednesday, as global markets cheered the

two-week ceasefire, while the Dow marked its steepest rise in a

year.

"What's important is there's been positive steps... Moving

from the brink of a continued escalation in Iran to a more

diplomatic approach has calmed markets down from some

perspective," said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist

for Allianz Investment Management.

At 08:45 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 166 points,

or 0.34%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 16.25 points, or

0.24%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 32.75 points, or

0.13%.

Investors assessed in-line personal consumption expenditure

figures for February - the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation

gauge - showing inflation rose 2.8% in February on an annual

basis.

Separate data showed the U.S. economy grew 0.5% in the

fourth quarter, versus 0.7% growth expected.

"(This doesn't) really change the narrative from a Fed

perspective in that we have elevated inflation pressures, so

that is going to keep them on hold for the time being," said

Ripley.

Friday's consumer prices index number for March will grab

the spotlight as investors wait to see the economic impact of

elevated oil prices stemming from the conflict.

Money market participants are expecting only about 30%

chances of a 25 basis-point interest rate cut by end-2026,

compared with a 56% chance a day ago, per LSEG-compiled data.

They expected two cuts this year before the war broke out,

while bets for a rate hike in December had also risen during the

conflict.

Minutes from the central bank's March meeting showed on

Wednesday a growing group of policymakers felt last month that

rate hikes might be needed to counter inflation that continued

to exceed the central bank's 2% target, especially as the war

drove up prices.

Among premarket movers, Applied Digital ( APLD ) shares

dropped 2.7% after the data center operator's third-quarter net

loss widened from a year earlier.

Coreweave ( CRWV ) added 1.5% after the cloud infrastructure

firm announced an expanded $21 billion cloud deal with Meta

Platforms ( META ), but gains were limited after it announced a

$3 billion convertible bonds offering.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Avinash P and Sruthi Shankar in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Devika Syamnath)