Aug 13 (Reuters) - Wall Street was set for a higher open on Tuesday after producer prices data showed abating inflation pressures, keeping the Federal Reserve on track to cut rates in September, while Starbucks soared after appointing Chipotle's Brian Niccol as CEO.
Stocks wobbled on Monday with the S&P 500 (.SPX), nearly flat and the Nasdaq (.IXIC), eking out modest gains, following a turbulent week marked by mixed economic reports and a rate hike by Japan's central bank.
U.S. producer prices increased less than expected in July as a rise in the cost of goods was tempered by cheaper services, indicating that inflation continued to moderate. In the 12 months through July, the PPI increased 2.2% after climbing 2.7% in June.
"This creates more flexibility for the Fed to lower rates later this year without a doubt and that's what driving the market response right now," said Dave Grecsek, managing director in investment strategy and research at Aspiriant.
Yield on the 10-year Treasury note and on the 2-year note ticked lower after the data, while traders' bets of a 50-basis-point rate cut increased to over 50% after the report, according to CME's FedWatch Tool.
Markets expect the interest rates to be reduced by a total of 100 basis points by the end of 2024.
Investors now await the all-important consumer price (CPI) figures for July on Wednesday and retail sales data on Thursday to firm bets on an aggressive rate cut by the U.S. central bank.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's two-hour interview with billionaire Elon Musk on X got off to a delayed start after more than half an hour of technical problems on Monday.
At 08:46 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 96 points, or 0.24%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 153.75 points, or 0.82% and, S&P 500 E-minis were up 28.25 points, or 0.53%.
Starbucks (SBUX.O), was the top performer on the S&P 500 in premarket trading, rising 9.8% after it appointed Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG.N), opens new tab head Brian Niccol as chairman and chief executive officer replacing Laxman Narasimhan.
Chipotle dropped 7.8%.
Home Depot (HD.N), pared losses and was last down 0.3% after the home improvement chain forecast a decline in annual profit and a bigger drop in its annual comparable sales.
Chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA.O), led the inclines for megacap and growth stocks with a 3.6% gain.
Roger Federer-backed On Holding beat analysts' estimates for second-quarter revenue on strong demand from customers looking for trendy products. Its shares rose 2.6%.
BuzzFeed (BZFD.O), jumped 17.4% after the digital media company narrowed its net loss in the second quarter to $6.6 million from $22.5 million a year earlier.
Investors will now look ahead to comments from Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, due at 1:15 p.m. ET, on the outlook for the U.S. economy.
Wall Street's fear gauge, the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), was at 19.8 points after falling to 18.87 on Monday.
Reporting by Shubham Batra, Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Maju Samuel
