US STOCKS-Trump's Fed shake-up sends Wall St futures higher on rate easing hopes

By Nikhil Sharma and Pranav Kashyap

Aug 8 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on Friday after President Donald Trump's temporary pick for a Federal Reserve governor fueled expectations of a more dovish policy ahead.

At 6:52 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 19.5 points, or 0.31%, Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 74.5 points, or 0.32%, and Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 107 points, or 0.24%.

Investors were being whipsawed by mixed signals over the Fed's future, as Trump's pressure stirs worries about the central bank's independence and a potential leadership reshuffle that could skew policy looser.

On Thursday, the U.S. president said he will nominate Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran for a short-term Fed seat while the White House hunts for a permanent governor and a new chair. Miran replaces Governor Adriana Kugler following her surprise resignation last week.

The S&P 500 and the Dow cooled in the last session after Bloomberg News reported Fed Governor Christopher Waller was emerging as a leading contender for the chair.

"He's (Miran) widely expected to join Waller and Michelle Bowman in the dovish camp for the few meetings he will attend, with a non-negligible risk he might try to build consensus for a 50 basis point move," ING analysts send in a note.

The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 were on track for their best week in over a month, buoyed by tech names after signs they could sidestep new chip tariffs by building more in the United States.

Apart from tech stocks, equities have ridden a sharp reset in rate expectations and a flurry of upbeat earnings.

The CME FedWatch tool shows traders see a 90% chance of the first rate cut of the year coming next month - and futures point to at least two cuts by year-end.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 .SPX and the Dow .DJI ended lower, weighed down by a 14.1% drop in Eli Lilly LLY.N after results from a late-stage study on its experimental GLP-1 pill fell behind that of Novo Nordisk's NOVOb.CO.

Sector-wise, consumer discretionary .SPLRCD could top the leaderboard this week, while healthcare .SPXHC lags, weighed down mainly by Eli Lilly.

Meanwhile, U.S. tariffs on a bunch of trading partners took effect at midnight on Thursday. Tokyo's trade negotiator said Washington will amend a presidential executive order to remove overlapping tariffs on Japanese goods, terming it as oversight.

In earnings-related moves, Trade Desk TTD.O sank 30% in premarket trading after the ad-tech firm reported a sharp slowdown in second-quarter revenue growth.

Pinterest PINS.N tumbled 11% as the social media platform missed analysts' estimates for second-quarter profit.

Microchip Technology MCHP.O lost 7.9% after the chipmaker's first-quarter results failed to impress investors.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem is scheduled to speak later at 10:20 a.m. ET.