S&P Futures Dawdle on Bank Earnings, Promised Inflation Data

Stock futures pointed to a mixed open on Wednesday, as investors weighed earnings releases from big banks and awaited the latest wholesale inflation report.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials increased 70 points, or 0.2%, to 44,317.

Futures for the S&P 500 index sagged 4.5 points, or 0.1%, to 6,279.50.

Futures for the NASDAQ swooned 53.75 points, or 0.2%, to 23,003.

Big bank earnings releases continued for a second day. Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter, sending shares up more than 1%. To be sure, Bank of America’s net interest income missed analyst expectations. Goldman Sachs shares jumped 1.5% after topping second-quarter expectations on the back of better-than-expected equities trading.

These results come a day after JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup each posted quarterly figures that topped analysts’ expectations for earnings and revenue.

On top of that, June’s producer price index report rolls out at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a 0.2% increase for PPI.

That report will follow Tuesday’s data which showed inflation moving further away from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. The report weighed on markets during the previous session.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gave up 14 points Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng handed over 0.3%

Oil prices dipped 59 cents to $65.93 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices surged $6.60 to $3,343.30 U.S. an ounce.