Futures inch up ahead of more bank earnings, economic data

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures ticked up on Thursday, ahead of quarterly results from some of the country's major lenders, and economic reports that could offer insights into the health of the world's largest economy.

At 04:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 6 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 12.25 points, or 0.20%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 72.75 points, or 0.34%.

In the previous session, Wall Street's main indexes logged their biggest one-day jump since Nov. 6 - the day after U.S. elections - after data indicated that underlying inflation was subsiding and three of the country's biggest banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co reported bumper results.

Quarterly earnings from top lenders Morgan Stanley and Bank of America are due before markets open on Thursday. Shares of the banks were up in premarket trading.

The S&P 500 banks index and the regional banks index have outperformed Wall Street's top indexes so far in January, as investors anticipate a favorable business environment for the sector under President-elect Donald Trump. The sentiment was reiterated by bank CEOs on Wednesday.

Of the 28 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported fourth-quarter earnings as of Wednesday, 82.1% have surpassed estimates, according to data compiled by LSEG.

On the data front, retail sales data for the month of December is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Reuters expect a 0.6% increase, compared with a 0.7% rise in the previous month. A weekly report on jobless claims is also expected later in the day.

Following Wednesday's inflation report, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note has eased from its 14-month high and was last at 4.66%.

Traders now see the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in July. They had all but priced out any reductions for 2025 earlier in the week.

"The deceleration in yesterday's core (inflation) figures should quiet the tut-tutting of armchair central bankers who had criticized the Fed's December rate cut," said Peter Graf, chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Americas.

"With both inflation and employment trending sideways for the time being, market expectations can coalesce around a hold in interest rates, and investors can turn their focus to upcoming earnings and policy announcements."

On Capitol Hill, Senate confirmation hearings are underway for Trump's Cabinet picks and Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent will face questions at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Markets will scrutinize his plans to implement the President-elect's proposals on tariffs, tax-cuts and deregulation, at a time when the U.S. national debt stands over 100% of national output.

Among other movers, U.S.-listed shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Semiconductor Manufacturing Co rose 3.7% after the company posted record quarterly profit on surging demand for chips used in artificial intelligence processing.

Other chip stocks Nvidia rose 1.4%, Broadcom added 1.4% and Advanced Micro Devices rose 1%.

Unitedhealth and US Bancorp edged up ahead of their quarterly earnings reports.

Southwest Airlines dropped 2.8% a day after the U.S. sued the carrier, accusing it of illegally operating multiple chronically delayed flights.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)