US STOCKS-Fed rate cut boosts futures as growth stocks lead gains

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

Futures up: Dow 0.96%, S&P 500 1.34%, Nasdaq 1.82%

Sept 19 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures surged on Thursday, with those tracking the Nasdaq climbing nearly 2% following the Federal Reserve's move to start its easing cycle with a half a percentage point cut, aiding a soft landing for the world's biggest economy.

Rate-sensitive growth stocks like Microsoft (MSFT), Meta and Alphabet, that have led much of this year's rally, advanced over 1.5% each in premarket trading.

Chip stocks also gained, with Nvidia (NVDA) up 2.8%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) rising 3% and Broadcom (AVGO) up 3.4%.

Futures tracking the domestically-focused Russell 2000 index also shot up 2.5% to its highest level since July 31.

A lower interest environment could mean prospects of cheaper operating costs and greater profits for companies that are dependent on credit.

At 04:59 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 398 points, or 0.96%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 76.25 points, or 1.34% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 355.75 points, or 1.82%.

After delivering its super-sized verdict on Thursday, the Fed assured that it was not an emergency response and unveiled projections that analysts say reflect conditions for the economy to achieve a goldilocks scenario, where growth is steady and inflation and unemployment stay low.

Traders now see a 64.2% chance that the central bank will lower interest rates by 25 basis points at its November meeting, as per the CME Group's FedWatch tool. Expectations are that the central bank will trim rates by 72 bps by year-end, as per LSEG data.

On the data front, investors will parse weekly jobless claims and existing home sales for the month of August.

Market reaction in the aftermath of the decision was muted, with all the three indexes closing slightly lower in the previous session.

However, data going back to 1970 from Evercore ISI showed the S&P 500 has posted an average 14% gain in the six months following the first reduction of a rate-cutting cycle.

September has generally been a disappointing month for U.S. equities with the S&P 500 notching an average loss of 1.2% since 1928. The S&P 500 has logged losses so far this month but is close to record highs, and the blue-chip Dow is just short of its respective milestone.

JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM) added 1.1%, Bank of America (BAC) climbed 1.6%, Wells Fargo (WFC) advanced 1.5% after the big banks lowered their respective prime rates. Citigroup (C/PN) also rose 1.5% after cutting its base lending rate.

Dell added 2.8% after declaring a quarterly cash dividend.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)