US pre-open: Wall Street futures mixed as bank earnings roll in
Wall Street futures were mixed ahead of the bell on Wednesday as second-quarter earnings from some of the biggest banks in the country were on tap.
As of 1220 BST, Dow Jones futures were down 0.01%, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.09% and 0.39% higher, respectively.
The Dow closed 107.39 points lower on Tuesday as hotter-than-expected inflation numbers weighed on sentiment.
AvaTrade's Naeem Aslam said: "Futures in the United States are trading higher today after the mind-boggling day investors witnessed in yesterday's session following the release of the much-awaited inflation data released by the Labor Department and the onset of the earnings season with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs shattering expectations.
"Stock traders should dissect Jerome Powell's briefing before the House Financial Services Committee today to get a sense of how the Fed will react to the surge in consumer price index."
With inflationary fears taking somewhat of a backseat on Wednesday, the session's main focus will again be earnings, with several big names reporting prior to the open.
Bank of America posted Q2 revenues of $21.6bn, just shy of estimates for a print of $21.8bn, while earnings per share of $0.77 per share were 108% higher year-on-year, while BlackRock reported a second-quarter profit of $1.38bn on net income of $8.92 per share, topping Wall Street expectations.
Still to come, Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Delta Air Lines were all set to report before the bell.
On the macro front, the number of Americans applying for home mortgages increased in the week ended 9 July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, with its seasonally adjusted market index rising 16.0% week-on-week. The growth was a result of a 20.4% increase in applications to refinance existing loans and an 8.3% rise in applications to purchase a home.
Still to come, June's producer price index will be published at 1330 BST, while Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell's testimony in front of Congress will begin at 1700 BST and the central bank's Beige Book will follow at 1900 BST.