US STOCKS-Wall St eyes higher open as softer PCE data supports rate-pause hopes

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Nike jumps on Q1 profit beat

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Aug PCE data softer than expected

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All three indexes set to log quarterly declines

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Futures up: Dow 0.60%, S&P 0.69%, Nasdaq 0.95%

(Updated at 8:46 a.m. ET/1246 GMT)

By Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A

Sept 29 (Reuters) -

Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Friday after a softer-than-expected reading on a crucial inflation metric kept alive hopes of a pause in the Federal Reserve's rate hikes.

A Commerce Department

report

showed the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, considered to be the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, climbed 0.4% in August month-on-month, against estimates of a 0.5% rise.

Excluding volatile food and energy components, the core PCE price index rose 0.1% in August month-on-month, compared with estimates of 0.2% advance.

"These are very, very good numbers. Even though the drop isn't spectacular, it's in the right direction," said Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners.

"I'm very optimistic that inflation continues to decline and the Fed will note this in their reasoning about interest rates."

Traders' bets on the benchmark rate remaining unchanged in November and December stood at 85% and nearly 67%, respectively, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

The yield on two-year and 10-year Treasury notes declined, leading growth stocks including Apple, Microsoft, Tesla, Alphabet , Amazon.com and Nvidia to advance around 1% in premarket trading.

Market participants now await U.S. consumer sentiment data for September, due shortly after the opening bell.

At 8:46 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 202 points, or 0.6%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 29.75 points, or 0.69%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 140.75 points, or 0.95%.

Overnight, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President

Thomas Barkin

backed the central bank's decision to hold rates steady earlier this month, but said it is unclear if more changes will be needed in the future.

Elsewhere, investors gauged the prospects of averting a government shutdown as the Democratic-led Senate forged ahead on Thursday with a bipartisan stopgap, while the House began voting on partisan Republican spending bills.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are poised for their worst monthly showing of the year amid uncertainty around interest rates. All the three indexes, including the Dow, are set for their first quarterly decline in 2023.

Riding the current of higher crude prices, energy is set to emerge as the only major S&P 500 sector to notch monthly gains. Meanwhile, rate-sensitive information technology and real estate were on track to be the worst hit.

Among individual stocks, Nike jumped 10.1% after the sportswear maker posted a better-than-expected first-quarter profit.

Shares of sporting goods retailers Foot Locker and Dick's Sporting Goods added 3.2% and 3.1%, respectively. (Reporting by Ankika Biswas, Shashwat Chauhan and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Maju Samuel)