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Updates before markets open

By Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap

May 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open higher on Wednesday after the week's strong start as soft inflation data and the U.S.-China tariff truce boosted sentiment, while Donald Trump's Gulf tour stoked expectations of additional trade agreements.

U.S. stocks have been riding on optimism since the weekend, when the United States and China decided to hit pause on their fierce tariff dispute and signaled a joint effort to stave off a global economic slowdown.

The U.S. will temporarily lower the extra tariffs it imposed on Chinese imports to 30% from 145% for three months, while Chinese duties on U.S. imports will fall to 10% from 125% in the same period.

"While there are undoubtedly still uncertainties and details to iron out with the trade negotiation with China, the easing of tensions is apparently enough for the markets, which are typically forward-looking and are pricing in an environment where the U.S. and China are able to trade with each other," said Rick Gardner, chief investment officer at RGA Investments, in e-mailed comments.

Tuesday's close saw the S&P 500 .SPX finally elbowing back into positive territory for the year, a milestone not seen since late February. However, the benchmark index has a lot of ground to cover and is more than 4% off the record peaks it hit earlier this year.

Both the S&P 500 and the tech-laden Nasdaq .IXIC have managed to recapture levels last seen before U.S. President Donald Trump's April 2 "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, which had cast a pall over a broad swathe of international trade.

A 90-day pause announced on April 9 for countries other than China, along with solid earnings reports and a limited U.S.-UK trade agreement last week, helped the benchmark indexes claw back.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed higher on Tuesday after data showed U.S. consumer prices rebounded moderately in April, with headline inflation rising 0.2%, compared with economists' estimate of a 0.3% increase and versus a 0.1% drop in March.

At least three U.S. Federal Reserve officials including Fed Governor Christopher Waller are slated to speak on the day. But the main event of the week will be Fed Chair Jerome Powell's public remarks on Thursday, which will be dissected for any hawkish or dovish undertones.

At 08:29 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were up 80 points, or 0.19%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 16 points, or 0.27%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 79.25 points, or 0.37%.

Most megacap and growth stocks ticked up, with Nvidia NVDA.O leading the charge with a 3% jump. Other chip stocks like Advanced Micro Devices AMD.O also rose in premarket trading.

A number of U.S. technology firms announced artificial-intelligence deals in the Middle East on Tuesday, as Trump secured $600 billion in commitments to U.S. companies from Saudi Arabia during his trip to the Gulf states.

On the other hand, American Eagle Outfitters AEO.N dropped 12.7% after the apparel company withdrew its annual forecasts, citing economic uncertainty fueled by tariffs.

As earnings season comes to a close, results from retail giant Walmart WMT.N will be on the radar later in the week.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K and Pooja Desai)

((Shashwat.Chauhan@thomsonreuters.com;))