US stock index futures edge higher, key inflation data awaited

US stock index futures edged higher on Monday ahead of a key inflation reading during the week that will be scrutinized for whether the Federal Reserve's efforts to cool prices were taking hold, while shares of regional lenders extended gains, reports Reuters.

Regional bank shares stretched gains from a rebound on Friday, with PacWest Bancorp jumping 33 per cent premarket after the company announced quarterly dividend. Peers Western Alliance Bancorp, Comerica Inc and Zions Bancorp rose between 3.5 per cent and 8.6 per cent.

Shares of such banks tumbled for much of last week on worries tied to the collapse of First Republic Bank.

US stock indexes staged a late-week rally on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its biggest one-day percentage gain since Jan. 6 after upbeat results from Apple Inc and US jobs data highlighting a resilient labor market.

At 6:37 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 67 points, or 0.2 per cent, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6 points, or 0.14 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 4.25 points, or 0.03 per cent.

Focus will be on the Labor Department's inflation data on Wednesday, which is expected to show the consumer price index (CPI) likely climbed 0.4 per cent in April after gaining 0.1 per cent in March, while excluding the volatile food and energy components, the CPI likely increased 0.4 per cent last month.

Data on producer prices, weekly jobless claims and on consumer sentiment are all lined up through the week.

These data points will help investors not only gauge whether the Fed's aggressive tightening cycle - including its most recent 25 basis point hike last week - is working towards tamping down inflation but also if fears of stagflation are founded.