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Futures up: Dow 0.26%, S&P 500 0.56%, Nasdaq 0.65%

Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose on

Thursday as AI bellwether Nvidia's ( NVDA ) upbeat forecast soothed

concerns of cooling demand in the industry, while investors

gauged the implications of the Trump administration's latest

threats on global trade.

Nvidia ( NVDA ) added less than 1% in choppy premarket

trading, far tamer than some of the stock's previous

post-results surges, as the company's revenue growth slowed

further.

"It's telling that Nvidia's ( NVDA ) latest set of results beat

earnings expectations for the ninth quarter in a row and failed

to win over the market," said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst

at AJ Bell.

Fellow chip stocks Broadcom ( AVGO ) added 2.1% and Advanced

Micro Devices ( AMD ) gained 1%, while megacaps Microsoft ( MSFT )

and Meta rose 0.4% and 1.4%, respectively.

The launch of low-cost AI models from China's DeepSeek in

January had paused a two-year, tech-driven bull rally on Wall

Street, with Nvidia ( NVDA ) losing half a trillion dollars in market

value in a single day. More recently, an analyst report

suggesting Microsoft ( MSFT ) was scrapping some data center leases also

raised concerns of overcapacity.

"The prospect of being able run AI services more cheaply,

together with growing uncertainties around the economic outlook,

mean companies will be paying more attention to tech-related

spending," Coatsworth said.

At 05:20 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 112

points, or 0.26%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 33.5 points,

or 0.56%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 136.75 points,

or 0.65%.

All three major U.S. indexes were on track for monthly

declines, as the Trump administration's global trade policies

and signs of stalling economic growth have also fueled aversion

to riskier assets.

In his latest threats on trade partners, U.S. President

Donald Trump floated a 25% "reciprocal" tariff on European cars

and other goods.

But he sowed confusion on the timeline of Mexican and

Canadian duties after he said they could take effect on April 2,

while a White House official said the previous March 4 deadline

remained in effect.

On the data front, second estimates for quarterly gross

domestic product and a report on weekly jobless claims are due

at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Monthly Personal Consumption Expenditure data, the Federal

Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, is due on Friday and likely

to determine the outlook for monetary policy easing this year.

According to data compiled by LSEG, traders expect the

central bank to lower borrowing costs by at least 50 basis

points by December.

Comments from policymakers including Thomas Barkin, Jeffrey

Schmid, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr and Governor

Michelle Bowman are expected to reiterate the central bank's

cautious stance on easing interest rates further.

Dow component Salesforce ( CRM ) forecast fiscal 2026

revenue below expectations, sending shares of the business

software provider down 4.7%.

Snowflake rose 10.7% after the data analytics

provider forecast fiscal 2026 product revenue above analysts'

estimates.

Moderna ( MRNA ) dropped 3.3% after a report said U.S.

health officials are reevaluating a $590 million contract that

was awarded to the drugmaker for the development of its bird flu

vaccine.