Feb 18 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were on track to open higher on Tuesday as investors focused on potential tariff developments and the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest-rate strategy following last week's drop in Treasury yields.
Minutes from the central bank's January meeting, where it held interest rates unchanged between 4.25% and 4.5%, are due on Wednesday.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday, when the U.S. markets were closed for Presidents' Day, that his "baseline" view was that U.S. President Donald Trump's new trade restrictions would have only a modest impact on prices.
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said he saw no reason for an imminent change in interest-rate policy.
Hawkish commentary from Fed Chair Jerome Powell during his semi-annual testimony to Congress, along with last week's consumer prices and producer prices data, led to uncertainty over the Fed's rate-cut plans this year.
Traders currently see at least one 25-basis-point rate cut and a 56% chance of an additional cut by December, according to LSEG data.
Friday's weaker-than-expected retail sales reading pulled Treasury yields lower, likely keeping the central bank on track to cut borrowing costs this year.
"I don't think the Fed wants a policy mistake by cutting rates too early, because if they do, the unintended consequence would certainly be that inflation would turn around," said Philip Blancato, CEO of Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management.
"I don't think the Fed's going to cut any time soon... unless the data continues to get better."
Wall Street's main stock indexes clocked weekly gains in the midst of a choppy period for global markets last week as Trump's imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, along with his plans for reciprocal tariffs, sparked volatility.
Meanwhile, global risk-taking was boosted by speculations of a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as Russian and U.S. officials met for bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
At 08:18 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 78 points, or 0.17%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 22 points, or 0.36%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 91.75 points, or 0.41%.
Earnings season will start to thin out this week, with more than 380 of the S&P 500 companies having reported quarterly results.
Retail giant Walmart's (WMT.N), opens new tab earnings, a bellwether to gauge how the American consumer is faring, are due later this week.
Most megacap and growth stocks ticked up in premarket trading, with Nvidia <NVDA.O> outpacing the rest with a 1.7% advance.
Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab rose 5.1% after a report over the weekend said rivals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW), opens new tab and Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab was each eyeing potential deals that could break the chipmaking icon in two.
Constellation Brands (STZ.N), opens new tab jumped 6.6% after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N), opens new tab disclosed a new investment in the alcoholic beverages producer on Friday.
Bath & Body Works (BBWI.N), opens new tab advanced 4.6% after J.P.Morgan upgraded its rating on the beauty and skincare company to "overweight".
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai
