Aug 12 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a higher open on Monday as indexes add to their recovery from a hammering early last week, with investors gearing up for a deluge of data including U.S. consumer prices.
Both the S&P 500 (.SPX), and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), recouped most of their losses by the end of last week, after the benchmark index suffered its biggest one-day percentage drop in nearly two years on fears of recession and the unraveling of currency carry trade positions involving the yen.
Investors are likely to be on edge until Wednesday's U.S. consumer price index (CPI) reading, which is expected to show headline inflation accelerated 0.2% in July on a monthly basis, but remain unchanged at 3% on a year-on-year basis.
Money markets are evenly split between a 50- and a 25-basis-point (bps) cut in U.S. interest rates in September, expecting a total easing of 100 bps by the end 2024, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
Figures for July U.S. retail sales on Thursday are likely to show marginal growth, and investors expect that any weakness in the data could reignite fears of a consumer slowdown and a potential recession.
Earnings reports from Walmart (WMT.N), and Home Depot (HD.N), , due later this week, will also be crucial for clues on consumer spending in the world's largest economy.
"If inflationary data proves more sticky then that would lead to assumptions. The market will have to pull back some anticipation of a really aggressive Fed and that would increase volatility as well," said Keith Buchanan, senior portfolio manager at GLOBALT Investments.
Fed Governor Michelle Bowman softened her usually hawkish tone ever so slightly on Saturday, noting some further "welcome" progress on inflation in the last couple of months even as she said inflation remains "uncomfortably above" the central bank's 2% goal and subject to upside risks.
The CBOE Volatility Index , Wall Street's fear gauge, was up slightly at 20.46 points, but much lower than the peak of 65.73 a week earlier.
At 08:30 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis were up 19.25 points, or 0.36%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 73.75 points, or 0.4%, and the Dow E-minis were up 99 points, or 0.25%.
Most megacap and growth stocks were up in premarket trading, with Nvidia (NVDA.O), and Amazon.com (AMZN.O), among top gainers with a 1.2% and 0.8% increase, respectively.
Starbucks (SBUX.O), climbed 2.5% on reports that activist investor Starboard Value, which holds a stake in the coffee giant, wants the company to take steps to improve its stock price.
Robinhood Markets (HOOD.O), added 1.9% after Piper Sandler upgraded the stock to "overweight" from "neutral" and also raised its target price.
KeyCorp (KEY.N), jumped nearly 20% after Canada's Scotiabank (BNS.TO), bought a minority stake in the U.S. regional lender in an all-stock deal worth $2.8 billion.
Hawaiian Electric (HE.N), dropped 12.4% after the utility firm raised "going concern" doubts. The company disclosed that it did not have a financing plan in place for the $1.99 billion Maui wildfire settlement it reached earlier this month.
Reporting by Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
