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PPI due at 8:30 a.m. ET

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JPMorgan ( JPM ) profit jumps; shares down in choppy trading

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Wells Fargo ( WFC ) drops after profit falls on deposit costs

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BNY up after Q2 profit rises on investment service fee

boost

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Futures: Dow up 0.04%, S&P up 0.03%, Nasdaq down 0.06%

(Updated at 6:54 a.m. ET/1054 GMT)

By Medha Singh and Ankika Biswas

July 12 (Reuters) -

U.S. index futures struggled for direction on Friday as

investors parsed a set of big bank earnings to gauge the health

of corporate America, while awaiting key inflation data for

clues on the timing of interest rate cuts.

JPMorgan Chase's ( JPM )

second-quarter profit

rose on a boost from rising investment banking fees and an

$8 billion accounting gain from a share exchange deal with Visa

. However, shares of the world's largest bank were last

down 1.1% in volatile premarket trading.

Wells Fargo ( WFC ) dropped 5.1% after second-quarter

profit declined as the lender shelled out more to hold on to

deposits, amid intense competition for customers' money.

The results come against the backdrop of expectations of

some of the largest U.S. banks witnessing

weaker second-quarter profits

due to lower interest payments and higher provisions to

cover deteriorating loans.

Citigroup ( C/PN ) was also down 0.4% ahead of its results

before the opening bell.

As the S&P 500 and Nasdaq scale new peaks,

investors are hoping for strong profit growth from companies

beyond the heavyweight tech names such as Nvidia ( NVDA ), so

that the U.S. stocks rally can broaden out.

A rotation out of high-flying large-cap stocks in favor of

small-cap shares knocked down the tech-laden Nasdaq by nearly 2%

on Thursday after a surprise fall in U.S. consumer prices

solidified bets of a September interest rate cut.

"This CPI report came one day after Federal Reserve Chairman

Powell concluded the double testimony in Congress, where he kept

the cards close to his chest and decided to please Fed members

with both hawkish and dovish comments," Achilleas

Georgolopoulos, investment analyst at forex broker XM said in a

note.

"However, with the clock now counting down to the

month-end gathering, the doves will probably push for a dovish

stance on July 31."

Investors will watch for the Producer Price Index report,

due at 8:30 a.m. ET, for further evidence of moderating price

pressures.

The PPI reading for June is expected to rise 2.3%

annually, compared to a 2.2% rise in May. Excluding volatile

food and energy components, the so-called core figure likely

advanced 2.5% following May's 2.3% rise.

Traders now see a 92% chance of a rate cut in September, up

from 77.7% a week ago, according to CME Group's FedWatch Tool.

Among other data points, the University of Michigan's

consumer survey is also due after markets open.

At 6:54 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 17 points, or

0.04%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.75 points, or 0.03%,

and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 13.25 points, or 0.06%.

Tesla dropped 2% after UBS downgraded the EV

maker's stock to "sell" from "neutral".

BNY climbed 2.3% after the U.S. bank posted a 10%

rise in second-quarter net profit on Friday.

AT&T ( T ) dropped 2.7% after the telecom firm said data

from about 109 million customer accounts containing records of

calls and texts from 2022 was illegally downloaded in April.