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UnitedHealth ( UNH ) falls after Q3 results

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Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) gains after annual forecast lift

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Futures: Dow down 0.08%, S&P 500 up 0.02%, Nasdaq flat

(Updated at 06:51 a.m. ET/1051 GMT)

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 15 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were subdued

on Tuesday as investors took a breather after a rally in the

previous session and assessed quarterly results from companies

including Bank of America ( BAC ) and UnitedHealth ( UNH ).

Dow E-minis were down 34 points, or 0.08%, S&P

500 E-minis were up 1.25 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq

100 E-minis were down 0.5 points, or flat.

Health insurer UnitedHealth ( UNH ) dropped 3.8% in

premarket trading after reporting a surge in medical costs in

the third quarter. Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) inched 1.4% higher

after lifting its annual profit and sales forecast.

Bank of America ( BAC ) was up 1.3% after reporting its

quarterly results

.

Companies including Goldman Sachs ( GS ) and Citigroup ( C/PN )

are due to report quarterly results before the bell.

Shares of AI-darling Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell 1.3% in premarket

trading following a record high close on Monday, after a report

the U.S. is considering limiting exports of advanced artificial

intelligence chips from the company and other U.S. peers to some

countries.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices ( AMD ) and Intel ( INTC )

were down 1.2% and 0.5%, respectively.

Earnings from major banks including JPMorgan Chase ( JPM )

and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) kicked off the third-quarter reporting

season last week on an upbeat note.

Forty-one S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report results

this week, which will help investors gauge the health of the

U.S. economy. Large corporates will also need to justify their

expensive stock valuations, particularly in the tech sector,

where valuations have grown increasingly inflated in the past

year.

"As earnings season is set to begin, the tech and

communications sectors are expected to post the biggest

year-over growth," said Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at

eToro.

"So long as the bullish pillars remain in place for equity

markets, we should see the Nasdaq join the S&P 500 and Dow in

making new all-time highs."

All three major indexes jumped on Monday, with the S&P

500 and Dow Jones notching record highs for the

second consecutive session, as optimism over a strong

third-quarter earnings season and a rally in tech stocks lifted

equities.

The Dow closed above the 43,000-mark for the first time,

while the benchmark S&P 500 is nearing the psychologically

significant 6,000 level.

Boeing ( BA ) was down 1% after the planemaker filed a

registration statement to sell securities and classes of stock

to raise up to $25 billion.

Meanwhile, oil companies lost ground, tracking sharp

declines in crude prices as supply concerns eased after a media

report said Israel is willing to not strike Iranian oil targets.

Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) lost 3%, Occidental Petroleum ( OXY )

fell 3.2% and Chevron ( CVX ) dipped 2.5%.

Traders are pricing in about a 86% probability the Fed

will cut rates by 25 basis points in November and a slight

chance it will leave rates unchanged, according to CME's

FedWatch.

Speeches from Federal Reserve officials Adriana Kugler, Mary

Daly and Raphael Bostic are also on deck, while economic data

including monthly retail sales figures are due on Thursday.