US STOCKS-Wall St poised to slip at open as big bank earnings roll in

By Medha Singh and Pranav Kashyap

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Wall Street's main indexes were set to open lower on Wednesday as investors digested earnings from Bank of America and Citigroup, while retail sales and producer price data did little to alter expectations for interest‑rate cuts later this year.

Shares of Bank of America BAC.N dipped 1.5% even after the lender topped quarterly profit estimates, while Wells Fargo WFC.N slipped 2.6% as its fourth-quarter revenue missed expectations.

Citigroup C.N reported higher revenue on strong dealmaking, lifting its shares 1.6% higher. This follows JPMorgan JPM.N executives warning that a proposed ceiling on credit-card interest rates could squeeze consumers and dent profitability across the financial sector.

The weakness in bank stocks .SPXBK comes after a 25% jump over the past 12 months.

"Banks have had a very strong start to the year and markets are taking a little time to digest" the results, said Jake Johnston, deputy CIO, Advisors Asset Management.

"We’re seeing slight misses on some of the estimates, but these stocks had strong run up into these reports, and it's not unusual to see a little bit of a pullback."

Wall Street's main indexes have stalled this week after the Dow and the S&P 500 touched record highs, with traders awaiting fourth-quarter earnings to see if they meet elevated expectations.

Analysts project S&P 500 companies will deliver average fourth-quarter earnings growth of 8.8% year-on-year, lifting full-year 2025 bottom-line expansion to 13.2%, according to IBES LSEG data.

At 8:49 a.m. ET, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 33.25 points, or 0.47%, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 185 points, or 0.37% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 163 points, or 0.63%.

Rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court are due on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), with major disputes pending such as the legality of President Donald Trump's global tariffs.

ECONOMIC DATA IN FOCUS

Producer prices in the U.S. matched forecasts in November, but retail sales topped expectations, following data a day earlier showing December consumer prices rose as projected.

For now, interest rates are widely expected to hold steady through the first half of the year, including at the Fed's January meeting, as long as inflation and growth remain on track. Traders, however, are still pricing in at least two cuts before year-end, according to LSEG data.

Remarks from Fed voting members John Williams, Anna Paulson, and Stephen Miran were also expected during the day.

Meanwhile, the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers will meet with U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the White House later in the day following weeks of threats by President Donald Trump to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

So far, markets have largely overlooked geopolitical risks such as the U.S. toppling Venezuela's leader, with enthusiasm around artificial intelligence and fourth-quarter results driving U.S. indexes to new peaks.

The stock market's record rally is also showing early signs of broadening out this year, with S&P 400 midcaps .IDX and S&P 600 smallcaps .SPCY outperforming the largecap S&P 500 .SPX so far this year.

Palo Alto Networks PANW.O and Fortinet FTNT.O fell 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively, before the bell after sources told Reuters that Chinese authorities have told domestic companies to stop using some U.S. and Israeli cybersecurity software due to national security concerns.

Netflix NFLX.O firmed 1.3% after a source told Reuters the streaming giant was preparing an all-cash bid for Warner Bros Discovery's WBD.O studios and streaming assets.