May 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street stock indexes were set for a higher open on Thursday as Nvidia's shares jumped, while investors assessed economic data and watched developments around the high-stakes U.S.-China summit.
Nvidia (NVDA.O), rose 1.7% in premarket trading, giving the chipmaker a market valuation of over $5.5 trillion, after Reuters reported citing sources that the U.S. has cleared about 10 Chinese firms to buy its second-most powerful AI chip, the H200.
Meanwhile, Cisco (CSCO.O), soared 15.6% after the tech networking giant said it would cut nearly 4,000 jobs as part of a restructuring, and raised its annual revenue forecast after a surge in hyperscaler orders.
A steady rally in technology stocks in recent weeks, particularly chipmakers, has pushed U.S. stocks to new highs despite lingering concerns about the Middle East conflict and higher inflation due to surging oil prices.
U.S. retail sales increased 0.5% in April, in line with estimates, but some of the rise in receipts was likely due to higher inflation as the war with Iran boosted prices of energy products and other commodities.
"Consumers aren't in a recession, but they're not powering the economy either. Higher inflation, tariffs and demographic changes have taken a toll on retail spending as a growth driver," said David Russell, Global Head of Market Strategy at TradeStation.
"Today's retail numbers don't ring any alarm bells at the Fed, so they keep an upward bias on interest rates. The consumer is strong enough to rule out rate cuts."
Additionally, the number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week, pointing to a stable labor market.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Donald Trump at the start of a two-day summit on Thursday that trade talks were making progress, but warned that tensions over Taiwan could put relations on a dangerous path and even risk conflict.
Trump's visit also comes against the backdrop of the war with Iran, with fresh attacks on vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. A White House official said the leaders of the two largest economies had agreed that the strait should be open and that Iran should never obtain nuclear weapons.
At 08:57 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 419 points, or 0.84%, and S&P 500 E-minis were up 19 points, or 0.25%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 17.25 points, or 0.06%.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq advanced on Wednesday, notching another record close in a recent run to all-time highs.
This week's stronger consumer prices and producer prices readings have reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep monetary policy restrictive for longer.
Traders are now pricing in more than a 28% chance of a quarter-point rate hike by the end of the year, up from 20.7% a week earlier, per CME Group's FedWatch Tool.
Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
