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Tesla down on report co trims car production in China

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FedEx ( FDX ) jumps on Q3 profit beat

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Nike ( NKE ) falls after revenue forecast disappoints

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Futures: Dow up 0.01%, S&P down 0.10%, Nasdaq down 0.26%

(Updated at 8:21 a.m. ET/1221 GMT)

By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Shashwat Chauhan

March 22 (Reuters) -

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were set to open lower on Friday

after strong gains in the previous session, as investors cheered

the Federal Reserve sticking to its rate-easing stance and

awaited commentary from Chair Jerome Powell later in the day.

All three main U.S. indexes hit fresh record closing highs

on Thursday as chip stocks rallied after Micron Technology's

upbeat forecast and the Fed signaled it was still on track for

three interest-rate cuts this year.

Traders now see a 70% chance of the first rate cut hitting

in June, from 56% at the start of this week, according to the

CME's FedWatch Tool.

"With summer rate cuts now becoming somewhat more certain

and a further recovery in bond yields looking unlikely,

policymakers have provided fresh impetus to the bull market,"

said Raffi Boyadjian, lead investment analyst at XM.

Investors will also be closely monitoring commentary from a

host of other central bankers expected later in the day for

further cues on the central bank's monetary policy trajectory.

The blue-chip Dow ended Thursday less than 1% away

from the 40,000-mark for the first time. Along with the

benchmark S&P 500, the Dow was on track to its best

weekly performance so far this year.

Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq was set to notch

its best week since mid-January.

At 08:21 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 4 points, or

0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 5.25 points, or 0.1%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 48.25 points, or 0.26%.

Most rate-sensitive megacap growth and technology stocks

eased in premarket trading.

Tesla led losses, down 4.0%, following a report

that the EV maker has reduced car production at its plant in

China.

Nevertheless, the EV maker and many of the other market

leaders were set for strong weekly gains. The Philadelphia

Semiconductor Index has gained nearly 3% so far this

week.

Nike ( NKE ) shed 6.2% after the world's largest sportswear

maker warned that its revenue in the first half of fiscal 2025

would shrink by a low-single-digit percentage, as it scales back

on franchises to save costs.

Lululemon Athletica ( LULU ) forecast annual revenue and

profit below expectations as demand wanes for the apparel

retailer's premium athleisure, mainly in North America, sending

its shares tumbling 13.2%.

Social media platform Reddit ( RDDT ) lost 2.3% a day after

its strong market debut.

FedEx ( FDX ) jumped 11.5% after the company beat Wall

Street expectations for quarterly profit and operating margin in

the parcel delivery firm's largest unit, Express, rose 2.5% in

the February fiscal quarter from 1.2% a year ago.

While most S&P 500 companies will not report on the current

quarter until after mid-April, investors are likely to pay close

attention to earnings that come earlier for clues on how the

rest of the season will go.