Futures mixed ahead of JPMorgan and BlackRock results

• U.S. stock futures faltered on Friday ahead of the release of key banking results.
• JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and BlackRock are among the Wall Street titans releasing quarterly reports.
• JPMorgan and BlackRock CEOs Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink are expected to comment.

Thanks for registering!

Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed on the go. Download the app

Stocks were little moved in premarket trading Friday as investors awaited results from several Wall Street heavyweights.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.2% shortly after 5 a.m. ET, while Nasdaq 100 futures fell 0.1% and S&P 500 futures were flat.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell 0.05% to 4.54%. The U.S. dollar index – which measures the dollar's value against a basket of foreign currencies – rose to just over 105 points, its highest level since November.

JPMorgan and BlackRock, led by billionaire CEOs Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink, are expected to report first-quarter results on Friday. Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BlackRock and State Street are also on the earnings calendar.

“Forecasts call for another strong earnings report for the largest U.S. bank,” Kathleen Brooks, director of research at XTB, said in a morning note on JPMorgan.

“As the market now expects higher interest rates from the Fed for longer, net interest income is likely to continue to support bank profits in the future. This could boost the S&P 500 financial sector, which has hit a record high in recent weeks.”

Wall Street will be eager for good news from some of its biggest players after surprisingly high monthly inflation numbers this week dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve could begin cutting interest rates as early as June.

“Harder-than-expected CPI numbers from the US, as well as heightened geopolitical tensions, mean that the overall sense of uncertainty has increased,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in a morning note.

Friday's economic calendar includes new data on import prices and consumer sentiment, as well as scheduled comments from Raphael Bostic and Mary Daly, the respective presidents of the Atlanta Fed and the San Francisco Fed.