US STOCKS-US stock futures dip as Powell-led momentum stalls

By Johann M Cherian and Sanchayaita Roy

Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Monday, pausing after strong gains in the previous session, when Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted that an interest-rate cut could be under consideration at the central bank's meeting next month.

Recent economic data suggesting labor market weakness has bolstered investor confidence that the central bank could switch to a dovish stance in September, despite a majority of policymakers warning that U.S. tariffs could add to inflationary pressures in the coming months.

The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price index - the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge - is due to be released on Friday, while official nonfarm payrolls data is expected next week. The reports will be key, especially after Powell said a dovish verdict was not a certainty.

"There are persistent concerns about tariff-related inflation and how that may evolve in the coming months. But the reality is that recent tariff-driven price pressures are viewed as transitory and inflation expectations are quite stable," said David Chao, a global market strategist at Invesco.

"These well-anchored inflation expectations suggest that the Fed should be working to offset any weakness in the U.S. economy."

Powell's comments nudged major brokerages to revise their expectations, with Barclays, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank now seeing a 25-basis-point rate cut next month.

Traders have also bumped up bets on a September reduction to 84.2%, according to data compiled by LSEG.

At 07:26 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 fell 87 points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 lost 14.5 points, or 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 73.75 points, or 0.31%.

Friday's optimism helped the blue-chip Dow .DJI close at a record high for the first time since last December, while Jefferies became the latest brokerage to raise its year-end target for the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX, at a time when companies have tempered tariff-related forecasts.

This week is also crucial for the AI sensation that has powered Wall Street highs. Traders are gearing up for Nvidia's NVDA.O results on Wednesday to see if its $4 trillion valuation is justified. The chip giant's shares rose marginally in premarket trading.

The potential impact of Nvidia's recent revenue-sharing deal with the U.S. government on its forecasts will be closely watched.

In deals-related moves, beverage company Keurig Dr Pepper KDP.O slid 4.4% after saying it would buy JDE Peet's JDEP.AS for $18.4 billion in cash. The Dutch coffee company's shares jumped 17.3% in European trading.

Verint Systems VRNT.O jumped 12.6% after a report said private equity firm Thoma Bravo would acquire the call center software maker for about $2 billion, including debt.

Intel INTC.O rose 1.6% after U.S. President Donald Trump said the government was taking a 9.9% stake in the chipmaker for $8.9 billion.

U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings PDD.O rose 6.4% after the e-commerce platform topped its quarterly revenue estimates .

Remarks from New York Fed John Williams, a Federal Open Market Committee voting member, later in the day will be scrutinized to see if he shares Powell's policy outlook.