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Futures up: Dow 0.01%, S&P 500 0.20%, Nasdaq 0.34%

Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures ticked up on

Thursday, ahead of quarterly results from some of the country's

major lenders, and economic reports that could offer insights

into the health of the world's largest economy.

At 04:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 6 points, or

0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.20%,

and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 72.75 points, or 0.34%.

In the previous session, Wall Street's main indexes logged

their biggest one-day jump since Nov. 6 - the day after U.S.

elections - after data indicated that underlying inflation was

subsiding and three of the country's biggest banks including

JPMorgan Chase & Co ( JPM ) reported bumper results.

Quarterly earnings from top lenders Morgan Stanley ( MS )

and Bank of America ( BAC ) are due before markets open on

Thursday. Shares of the banks were up in premarket trading.

The S&P 500 banks index and the regional banks

index have outperformed Wall Street's top indexes so far

in January, as investors anticipate a favorable business

environment for the sector under President-elect Donald Trump.

The sentiment was reiterated by bank CEOs on Wednesday.

Of the 28 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported

fourth-quarter earnings as of Wednesday, 82.1% have surpassed

estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On the data front, retail sales data for the month of

December is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Reuters

expect a 0.6% increase, compared with a 0.7% rise in the

previous month. A weekly report on jobless claims is also

expected later in the day.

Following Wednesday's inflation report, the yield on the

benchmark 10-year Treasury note has eased from its

14-month high and was last at 4.66%.

Traders now see the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates

by 25 basis points in July. They had all but priced out any

reductions for 2025 earlier in the week.

"The deceleration in yesterday's core (inflation) figures

should quiet the tut-tutting of armchair central bankers who had

criticized the Fed's December rate cut," said Peter Graf, chief

investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Americas.

"With both inflation and employment trending sideways for

the time being, market expectations can coalesce around a hold

in interest rates, and investors can turn their focus to

upcoming earnings and policy announcements."

On Capitol Hill, Senate confirmation hearings are underway

for Trump's Cabinet picks and Treasury secretary nominee Scott

Bessent will face questions at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Markets will scrutinize his plans to implement the

President-elect's proposals on tariffs, tax-cuts and

deregulation, at a time when the U.S. national debt stands over

100% of national output.

Among other movers, U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan

Semiconductor Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 3.7%

after the company posted record quarterly profit on surging

demand for chips used in artificial intelligence processing.

Other chip stocks Nvidia ( NVDA ) rose 1.4%, Broadcom ( AVGO )

added 1.4% and Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) rose 1%.

Unitedhealth ( UNH ) and US Bancorp ( USB ) edged up ahead

of their quarterly earnings reports.

Southwest Airlines ( LUV ) dropped 2.8% a day after the U.S.

sued the carrier, accusing it of illegally operating multiple

chronically delayed flights.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Shashwat Chauhan in

Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)