US STOCKS-Wall St futures subdued in start to Fed meeting week; Tesla climbs

By Purvi Agarwal and Ragini Mathur

Sept 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were muted on Monday, setting a cautious tone for a crucial week in which the Federal Reserve is widely expected to resume its interest rate cutting cycle, while Tesla rose after CEO Elon Musk's share purchase.

The EV maker TSLA.O jumped 6.4% in premarket trading after Musk disclosed buying 2.57 million shares on Sept. 12 in the open market.

This week, the Fed's rate decision will take center stage, with investors expecting a 25-basis-point cut on Wednesday following a series of economic indicators that pointed to a deteriorating jobs market.

Investors are pricing in a total of about 69 points in monetary policy easing by end-2025, data compiled by LSEG showed. That implies nearly three quarter-point cuts this year - one at the central bank's every remaining meeting.

"We do not think (Fed Chair) Jerome Powell this week would be more dovish than the current market pricing ... but the risk is that he puts more emphasis on inflation risks and the uncertainty around the tariff impact which would tamper market expectations of an overly dovish Fed," said Mohit Kumar, economist at Jefferies.

In corporate developments, Nvidia NVDA.O fell 1.7% in premarket trading, as China's market regulator said it will continue an investigation into the AI chip leader after preliminary findings showed it had violated the country's anti-monopoly law.

This comes while representatives from the U.S. and China were engaged in trade talks in Madrid, Spain.

At 7:16 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 68 points, or 0.15%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 12 points, or 0.18% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 25 points, or 0.1%.

Wall Street's three main indexes had logged weekly gains in the previous session, with the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 hitting intraday record highs on Friday as technology-linked stocks remained resilient despite broader market declines.

The major indexes have performed positively thus far in September, a month considered historically bad for U.S. equities. The benchmark S&P 500 has shed 1.5% on average in the month since 2000, data compiled by LSEG showed.

Among the final datasets before the Fed's September 16-17 meeting, Tuesday's retail sales report will provide crucial insights into the U.S. consumer's health, following a slightly hotter-than-expected inflation reading last week.

VF Corp VFC.N gained 3% after the Vans-parent announced the sale of its Dickies brand to Bluestar for $600 million.

U.S.-listed shares of Smurfit Westrock SW.N rose 3.9% after UBS initiated coverage on the cardboard box maker with a "buy" rating.