Wall Street set to open higher ahead of Fed's rate decision

* Futures up: Dow 0.71%, S&P 0.99%, Nasdaq 1.33%

* Fed rate decision due 2 p.m. ET

* Baidu in talks to sell majority stake in iQIYI; shares rise

June 15 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set for higher open on Wednesday led by gains in beaten-down growth and bank stocks, with investors waiting to see how high the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates to quell inflation at its policy meeting.

Traders are almost fully pricing in a 75 basis point hike from the Fed, up from 8.2% a week ago, according to CME's FedWatch Tool. Such a big hike would lift the Fed's short-term target policy rate to a range of 1.5% and 1.75%.

The central bank will release its statement at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), with a press briefing by Fed Chair Jerome Powell expected at 2:30 p.m. ET.

"The Fed is going to go 75 basis points and attempt to talk very hawkish to try to regain control of the narrative, and when it's all over, investors will breathe a sigh of relief," said Zach Hill, head of portfolio strategy at Horizon Investments.

"But the medium-term outlook is the Fed wants to tighten financial conditions and so that means lower equity valuations."

Worries about surging inflation, higher borrowing costs and rising challenges to economic growth have walloped global equities this year.

Data showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell 0.3% in May as motor vehicle purchases declined amid shortages, and record high gasoline prices pulled spending away from other goods.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales gaining 0.2%.

The benchmark S&P 500 index on Monday marked a more than 20% decline from its most recent record high, confirming a bear market began on Jan. 3, according to a commonly used definition.

At 8:55 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 217 points, or 0.71%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 37 points, or 0.99%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 150 points, or 1.33%.

Market heavyweights Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp , Meta Platforms and Alphabet Inc, gained between 1.3% and 1.6% in premarket trading.

JPMorgan Chase & Co rose 1.3% to lead gains among the big banks.

U.S. shares of Baidu Inc rose 3.8% after Reuters reported the Chinese internet search engine giant is in talks to sell its controlling stake in iQIYI Inc in a deal that could value iQIYI at about $7 billion.

Qualcomm firmed 2% after winning its fight against a 997 million euro ($1.05 billion) fine imposed by EU antitrust regulators four years ago.

Hertz Global Holdings Inc climbed 6% after the rental car company announced a new $2 billion share buyback program. (Reporting by Anisha Sircar, Devik Jain and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)