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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)