(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock

markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

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Futures down: Dow 0.8%, S&P 500 1.1%, Nasdaq 1.6%

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Applied Materials ( AMAT ) falls after reduced China spending

forecast

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Cidara Therapeutics ( CDTX ) soars on Merck's ( MRK ) buyout deal

(Updates prices, analyst comment before the bell)

By Twesha Dikshit and Purvi Agarwal

Nov 14 (Reuters) -

Wall Street was poised to open in the red on Friday, driven

by a renewed selloff in technology stocks, while hawkish

comments from Federal Reserve officials added to doubts about an

interest rate cut in December.

The three major U.S. stock indexes posted their steepest

one-day declines in over a month on Thursday, with heavyweight

tech stocks leading the slump, after a growing number of Fed

policymakers signaled reticence on further easing.

Worries about stretched AI stock valuations have led to

several bouts of selloff in recent weeks and put the Nasdaq on

course for a second consecutive week of losses.

"People have seen the over valuation story, it has been

there for a while, but they are finally acting on it ...

momentum trade is starting to unwind," said Joe Saluzzi, partner

and co-founder at Themis Trading.

"When it does go down like you're seeing this morning,

they're going to take them all out. There's no safety trade

there."

Applied Materials ( AMAT ) shares dropped 7.4% in

premarket trading after the company flagged expectations of

weaker China spending next year on tighter U.S. export control

curbs.

Megacap technology stocks were lower, with the Roundhill

Magnificient Seven ETF down 2.4%.

At 8:42 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 370

points, or 0.78%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 77.25

points, or 1.14% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 404.5

points, or 1.61%

The CBOE volatility index, Wall Street's fear

gauge, touched a one-week high earlier and was last up 2.8

points at 22.8.

Fed speakers on Thursday added to dimming expectations

of policy easing. St. Louis President Alberto Musalem said

caution was needed, while Cleveland's head, Beth Hammack, said

restrictive policy would help tackle inflation. Minneapolis'

Neel Kashkari told Bloomberg News he had been against October's

rate cut.

Investors will parse through a fresh set of commentary from

Fed officials through the day.

Expectations for a 25 point rate cut in December fell to 53%

from last week's 67%, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool.

The historic U.S. government shutdown, which ended on

Thursday, led to an economic data drought, leaving the Fed and

traders flying blind and rekindled concerns about the health of

the labor market and the inflation outlook.

Despite the reopening, some data gaps are likely to be

permanent with the White House casting doubt on employment and

Consumer Price Index reports for October ever being released.

Among others, Walmart ( WMT ) was down 2.8% after announcing

that CEO Doug McMillon would retire next year.

Chipmakers fell, with AI bellwether Nvidia ( NVDA ) down

3.2%. Broadcom ( AVGO ), Intel ( INTC ) and Advanced Micro

Devices ( AMD ) fell between 2.6% and 4.1%.

Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results next week could further break or make the

rally that has been the main driver behind indexes hitting

all-time record highs this year.

Warner Bros Discovery ( WBD ) shares gained 2.2%. The

entertainment company said it had amended CEO David Zaslav's

employment agreement amid a strategic review of its business.

Cidara Therapeutics ( CDTX ) more than doubled after Merck ( MRK )

said it will acquire the company in a nearly $9.2

billion deal, gaining access to an experimental drug for flu

prevention.