US STOCKS-US futures edge up on Fed rate cut expectations; retail sales data awaited

Sept 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures inched higher on Tuesday after the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs in the previous session, as investors remained expectant about interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve later this week.

Investors largely priced in a 25 basis point cut from the U.S. central bank at the conclusion of its two-day meeting on Wednesday, in an attempt to offset the deterioration in the U.S. labor market, evidenced by numerous recent economic indicators.

Rate cut expectations remained unchanged after the U.S. Senate confirmed economic adviser Stephen Miran to the Fed Board and an appeals court rejected President Donald Trump's bid to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

Market participants are still pricing in a total of about 68 basis points in monetary policy easing by end-2025, data compiled by LSEG showed.

An August reading of retail sales is among the last datasets ahead of the Fed's decision, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, that could provide some more insights on U.S. consumer health.

In stocks, Oracle ORCL.N gained 3.8% in premarket trading. CBS News reported on Monday that the cloud computing giant is among a consortium of firms that would enable TikTok to continue operations in the U.S. if a Sino-U.S. framework deal was reached.

At 5:26 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 10 points, or 0.02%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 14.25 points, or 0.22% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 77.75 points, or 0.32%.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed at record highs on Monday, helped by robust gains in Tesla TSLA.O and Alphabet GOOGL.O, with the latter zooming past $3 trillion in market valuation for the first time.

Wall Street's main indexes have gained so far in September, a month that is deemed bad for U.S. equities historically. Data compiled by LSEG showed that the benchmark S&P 500 has lost 1.5% on average in September since 2000.

Among other stocks, Dave & Buster's Entertainment PLAY.O plunged 17.7% after the entertainment and dining venues operator missed analysts' expectations for second-quarter revenue and profit.

Chipotle Mexican Grill CMG.N gained 1.9% after raising its share buyback authorization.