On January 16, U.S. stock index futures edged up as investors awaited quarterly financial results from major American banks and economic reports that could provide valuable insights into the performance of the world's largest economy.
At 04:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis increased by 6 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis rose by 12.25 points, or 0.20%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up by 72.75 points, or 0.34%.
Following a substantial one-day increase in Wall Street's main indexes in the prior session, influenced by signs of decreasing inflation and robust earnings reports from prominent banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co, anticipation grew for the forthcoming earnings releases from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America. Pre-market trading indicated a rise in the banks' shares.
In January, the S&P 500 banks index and the regional banks index have outperformed leading indexes amid expectations of a favorable environment for the banking sector under President-elect Donald Trump.
Of the S&P 500 companies that have reported fourth-quarter earnings through Wednesday, 82.1% have surpassed expectations based on LSEG data.
Market attention is on the upcoming retail sales data for December and the anticipated jobless claims report later in the day.
After the inflation report on Wednesday, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note retreated from its 14-month high to 4.66%.
"The deceleration in yesterday's core (inflation) figures should quiet the tut-tutting of armchair central bankers..." noted Peter Graf, chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Americas.
Senate hearings are in progress for Trump's Cabinet appointments & Treasury nominee, with a focus on policy plans around tariffs, tax cuts, and deregulation, against a backdrop of high national debt.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's U.S. shares saw a 3.7% increase due to soaring demand for AI processing chips, while other chip stocks like Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices also witnessed gains.
UnitedHealth and US Bancorp slightly rose ahead of their quarterly earnings reports.
Southwest Airlines declined by 2.8% on allegations of operating multiple chronically delayed flights the previous day.