US pre-open: Futures little changed as investors prepare for earnings

Wall Street futures were little changed ahead of the bell on Monday as market participants braced for a week full of quarterly earnings reports.

As of 1200 BST, Dow Jones and S&P 500 futures were up 0.04% and 0.05%, respectively, while Nasdaq-100 futures had the index opening 0.03% weaker.

The Dow closed 143.22 points lower on Friday as traders digested earnings from a number of major US banks.

Earnings will continue to dictate investor sentiment this week, with Bank of New York Mellon slated to report earnings on Monday, while heavyweights Bank of America and Morgan Stanley will publish their latest quarterly figures on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Outside of the banking sector, which led to earnings season getting off to a generally good start, Netflix earnings will be on deck tomorrow, Tesla will publish its results on Wednesday, and Procter & Gamble will update on recent trading on Friday.

Zaye Capital's Naeem Aslam said: "As a number of US banks announce earnings, bank earnings remain a hot topic. Traders will be most interested in how much these banks are lending and how much they are tightening their lending requirements throughout the next few quarters. Remember that interest rates in the United States are at a multi-decade high, and financing isn't as simple as it once was. Furthermore, these institutions are aware that inflation remains considerably above the Fed's objective, implying that the Fed is likely to raise interest rates by 25 basis points a couple of times, posing a danger to the US economy.

"This is because rising interest rates are limiting economic growth in the United States. However, not everyone is pessimistic about the US economy, as the Treasury Secretary recently said that she continues to forecast modest growth. In terms of trading, the general consensus is that traders dislike the banking industry, but considering that the top US banks had excellent results last week, traders believe it may be worth the risk."

On the macro front, the NY Empire State manufacturing index will be published at 1330 BST, while the National Association of Housebuilders' April housing market index will follow at 1500 BST.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com