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Futures up: Dow 0.20%, S&P 500 0.27%, Nasdaq 0.35%

Nov 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher

on Wednesday, as investors priced in a potential interest rate

cut by the Federal Reserve in December and awaited economic data

for greater clarity over the health of the world's largest

economy.

Wall Street's main indexes closed higher for a third

consecutive session on Tuesday, with the benchmark S&P 500

ending at its highest level in two weeks.

Dovish commentary from influential Fed policymakers had

traders price in a 84.9% likelihood for a 25-basis-point

interest rate cut by the central bank next month, double the

chances seen last week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch

Tool.

Investors were also weighing a report suggesting White House

economic adviser Kevin Hassett was a frontrunner to be the next

Fed Chair, at a time when political influence in monetary

policymaking has been a concern.

The focus will now be on a jobless claims report for the

week ending November 22, expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, along with a

delayed September report on durable goods as investors scour for

more clues to gauge the Fed's next move.

The central bank's update on the health of the economy, also

known as the 'Beige Book', is expected at 2 p.m. ET.

At 05:36 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 92 points,

or 0.2%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 18.5 points, or 0.27%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 88.75 points, or 0.35%.

Wall Street's recent recovery from a tech-led selloff

earlier this month has trimmed monthly losses on the main

indexes. It would still be their biggest monthly losses since

the U.S. tariff rout earlier this year.

However, tech overvaluations still remain a concern and the

S&P 500 technology index has borne the brunt of it

with a 6% monthly decline.

Lifting some of the gloom on Wednesday was a 3.6% rise in

Dell in premarket trading after its quarterly forecasts

surpassed expectations, supported by strong demand for its

servers in AI data centers.

Shares of peers Super Micro Computer ( SMCI ) and Hewlett

Packard Enterprise ( HPE ) were marginally higher.

Traders were also heading into a busy holiday shopping

period starting with the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday,

followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The period will be

crucial for big-box retailers that will be catering to customers

navigating tariff-induced price pressures and corporate layoffs.

Results and forecasts from retailers such as Walmart ( WMT )

and Target ( TGT ) have been mixed even as the National Retail

Federation expects this year's holiday sales to top $1 trillion

for the first time.

Among other stocks, HP fell 5% after the personal

computer maker unveiled dour profit forecasts and announced job

cut plans.

Signs of increasing competition in the AI-chip sector

following an Alphabet-Meta deal weighed on shares of Nvidia ( NVDA )

and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ), down 1% and 2%,

respectively. Alphabet's shares were up 1.8%, bringing

it close to a $4 trillion market valuation.