US STOCKS-US stock futures inch lower after last week's rally in holiday-shortened week

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click (LIVE/) or type LIVE/ in a news window.)Futures: Dow flat, S&P 500 down 0.22%, Nasdaq down 0.40%Dec 29 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures slipped on Monday, kicking off the final holiday-shortened trading week of the year on a lower note, after the S&P 500 and the Dow had closed at record highs last week.The record highs in the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) and the blue-chip Dow (.DJI) had investors hoping for a “Santa Claus rally”, a seasonal phenomenon where the S&P 500 posts gains in the last five trading days of the year and the first two in January, according to Stock Trader’s Almanac.Wall Street’s main indexes closed flat on Friday, but are set for gains in December - a month considered traditionally strong for U.S. equities - on the back of a rally in technology stocks after an upbeat forecast from Micron Technology (MU.O) earlier in the month.Mild inflation and jobs reports for November, and expectations of a more dovish stance from the Federal Reserve under a new chair, kept hopes alive for further interest rate cuts next year, adding to the risk-on mode this month.On Monday, most tech and AI-linked stocks edged lower in premarket trading, with Nvidia (NVDA.O) down 1.1% and Oracle (ORCL.N) off 1.6%. Tesla (TSLA.O) was 1.4% lower after hitting a record high last week.At 05:40 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis (YMcv1) were up 3 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis (EScv1) were down 15.5 points, or 0.22%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis (NQcv1) were down 104.25 points, or 0.40%.U.S.-listed shares of precious metal miners also moved lower as prices of gold and silver retreated after back-to-back record highs last week.Newmont (NEM.N) was down 2.1%, Hecla Mining (HL.N) fell 3.5% and Barrick Mining (B.N) (ABX.TO) was off 2%.On the macro front, minutes from the Fed’s previous meeting and a weekly reading of jobless claims will be on the radar in an otherwise data-light week.The S&P 500 has added about 17% so far this year, as the frenzy to capitalize on artificial intelligence helped the U.S. benchmark overtake Europe’s STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , despite having investors diversify away from U.S. stocks earlier in the year.Markets will also be on the lookout for a potential ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, after U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy were “getting a lot closer, maybe very close” to an agreement to end the war.Among other stocks, DigitalBridge (DBRG.N) soared 34% after Bloomberg News reported Japan’s SoftBank was in advanced talks to acquire the digital infrastructure firm.