US pre-open: Futures lower as earnings begin to roll in

US futures were in the red ahead of the bell on Friday as market participants strapped themselves in for the beginning of another corporate earnings season.

As of 1255 GMT, Dow Jones futures were down 0.42%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures had the indices opening 0.26% and 0.31% weaker, respectively.

The Dow closed just 15.29 points higher on Thursday as market participants digested key CPI data, which revealed inflation had risen more than expected in December, with consumer prices rising by 3.4%, up from 3.1% in November and above economists' expectations of a 3.2% increase.

Today's primary focus will be on the corporate space, with Bank of America reporting a drop in M&A fees and taking hit from regulatory charges, while Bank of New York Mellon also posted a 50% drop in fourth-quarter profits as a result of one-time charges.

Wells Fargo, on the other hand, delivered 9% quarterly growth in net income, but warned of lower interest income in the new year, while JPMorgan Chase said it had seen record annual profits thanks to an interest rate windfall.

Still to come, Citi, Blackrock, Delta Air Lines and UnitedHealth will also report their latest quarterly figures.

On the macro front, December's producer price index will be out at 1330 GMT, while Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis president Neel Kashkari will deliver a speech at 1500 GMT.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com