NEW YORK, June 18 — Wall Street was set to open flat today following softer-than-expected US retail sales data, with focus on commentary from a slew of Federal Reserve officials later in the day.

US retail sales rose 0.1 per cent last month, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, gaining 0.3 per cent in May.

Markets slightly increased bets on two interest rate cuts from the Fed this year following the data, according to LSEG's FedWatch.

"The weaker-than-expected data's telling me that consumers are still having a difficult time and that the economy is still moving forward, but at a slower pace," Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth Management, said.

"The Fed has to start thinking about cutting interest rates, perhaps sooner than the end of the year."

Technology stocks were set to continue their strong run after lifting the benchmark S&P 500 to its fifth record high close in six sessions on Monday, and the Nasdaq to its sixth consecutive record close.

The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index also hit a record high yesterday.

Among chip stocks, Broadcom climbed 1.6 per cent in premarket trading after hitting a record high on Monday, while Qualcomm, US-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and Micron were also up between 1.5 per cent and 3.1 per cent before the bell today.

Nvidia rose 0.4 per cent, while other megacaps Apple and Microsoft rose 0.4 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively.

Focus will now be on comments from US Federal Reserve officials, which will be scrutinized for clues on how the central bank's members view the current economic situation and path ahead for monetary policy, after recent projections showed the Fed now sees just one interest rate cut this year instead of the three previously forecast.

New York Fed President John Williams said recent inflation data was encouraging, and things were moving in the "right direction" for monetary policy in an interview.

Six other Fed speakers are scheduled for today, including voting committee members Thomas Barkin and Adriana Kugler.

Hopes for multiple interest rate cuts this year, enthusiasm for artificial intelligence linked companies and strong earnings from other tech firms have helped support equities, although rallies over the past few months have largely been on the back of a handful of heavily weighted stocks.

Citigroup raised the year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,600 points from 5,100, representing a 2.3 per cent upside from the index's previous close.

At 8:49 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 15 points, or 0.04 per cent, S&P 500 e-minis were down 0.75 points, or 0.01 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 13.25 points, or 0.07 per cent.

Homebuilder Lennar fell 2.7 per cent after forecasting lower-than-expected third-quarter home deliveries.

Edtech company Chegg jumped 17.6 per cent after announcing job cuts as part of a restructuring plan.

Merck rose 1.1 per cent after the US Food and Drug Administration approved its next-generation vaccine to protect adults against the pneumococcal disease.

Markets will be closed tomorrow for the Juneteenth holiday. — Reuters