Dow futures tick lower; PPI data, bank earnings in focus By Investing.com

Investing.com — U.S. stock futures slipped marginally lower Friday, with investors awaiting more inflation data as well as results from a series of major banks. 

By 06:25 ET (11:25 GMT), the contract was down 45 points, or 0.1%, traded 5 points, or 0.1%, lower and dropped 45 points, or 0.3%.

This followed a muted session on Wall Street, with the 30-stock closing just 15 points higher, the benchmark dropping 3 points, while the tech-heavy ended largely unchanged.

Uncertainty after CPI release

The market seems uncertain how to read Thursday’s consumer prices report, as headline accelerated in December but the so-called “” reading, which strips out volatile items like food and energy, slowed marginally.

Investors are still looking for the to start cutting interest rates early this year, but Cleveland Fed President told Bloomberg Television that there was “more work” needed to cool price pressures before the central bank can begin to contemplate lowering interest rates from more than two-decade highs. 

Attention now turns to the release of U.S. producer prices later in the session, with expected to rise 0.1% on the month in December, an rise of just 1.3%, offering hope that underlying inflation is on the retreat.

Banking giants due to report

The fourth-quarter earnings season starts in earnest on Friday, with results due from a number of banking giants, including Bank of America (NYSE:), Wells Fargo (NYSE:), Citigroup (NYSE:) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:).

These lenders are widely tipped to report a combined decline in profit in the fourth quarter, due in part to an uptick in provisions for bad loans and higher deposit costs.

Indeed, Citigroup has already warned that it will book around $3.8 billion in charges and reserves, though much of these costs will stem from currency exposure in Argentina and Russia.

Elsewhere, health insurer UnitedHealth (NYSE:) reported a jump in medical care costs in the fourth quarter, investment management company BlackRock (NYSE:) posted a jump in its fourth-quarter profit on Friday, while Lucid (NASDAQ:) announced it is recalling more than 2,000 units of its Air luxury electric sedan for potential faults.

Crude soars after strikes against Houthi forces

Oil prices soared Friday after U.S.-led forces launched airstrikes against the Iran-backed Houthi group in Yemen, increasing concerns over disruptions to Middle East supplies.

By 06:25 ET, the futures traded 4.2% higher at $75.05 a barrel, while the contract climbed 4.1% to $80.58 a barrel.

The United States and Britain carried out the strikes in retaliation for attacks by the Iran-backed group on shipping in the Red Sea starting from late last year, and came shortly after Iran seized an oil tanker with Iraqi oil in the Gulf of Oman.

Several major shipping operators have decided to steer clear from the region, disrupting supplies on the key route between Europe and Asia, which accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic. 

Additionally, rose 1.5% to $2,050.45/oz, while traded 0.2% lower at 1.0953.

(Oliver Gray contributed to this article.)