Futures subdued after tech selloff; bank earnings in focus

By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal

(Reuters) -U.S. stock index futures were largely subdued on Wednesday, following a selloff in tech and oil stocks in the previous session, as investors awaited quarterly results from Morgan Stanley and other banks.

Chip heavyweight Nvidia rose 0.6% in premarket trading, after slumping nearly 5% in the previous session, following a report the Biden administration is considering capping AI chip exports by U.S. companies.

Semiconductor stocks were broadly mixed, with the U.S.-listing of chip equipment-maker ASML Holding losing 3.9% after the company cut its annual sales forecast on Tuesday.

Intel dipped 2% after the Cybersecurity Association of China recommended initiating a review of the chipmaker's products sold in the country.

Dow E-minis were down 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 E-minis were up 2.25 points, or 0.04% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 20.25 points, or 0.1%.

Steep declines in semiconductor and oil stocks dragged on Wall Street on Tuesday, while investors assessed a mixed bag of earnings. Shares of health insurer UnitedHealth slumped, offsetting the gains from major banks' upbeat results.

Corporate results are due through the week, along with key economic data including the retail sales and industrial production figures on Thursday, all of which are expected to shed light on consumer health and the growth outlook for the world's largest economy.

The S&P 500 and Dow were trading around record high levels despite Tuesday's fall, with continued optimism about future rate cuts from the Federal Reserve as well as economic growth buoying sentiment.

"I continue to view dips as buying opportunities, with said downside likely to prove shallow and short-lived in nature," said Michael Brown, senior research strategist at Pepperstone.

Banks will be in focus on the day, with most big names reporting broadly upbeat results so far. Earnings from lenders including Morgan Stanley due before the bell.

"Providing that banks prove a reliable barometer for earnings season more broadly, solid earnings growth, coupled with resilient economic growth, should continue to power the market higher," Brown said.

Citizens Financial Group lost 1.2%, while U.S. Bancorp gained 2% after the banks reported their third-quarter results.

Bets on a 25-basis-point rate cut at the Federal Reserve's November meeting have risen above 90%, according to CME's FedWatch.

September import and export prices data is also due later in the day.

Shares of most rate-sensitive megacap tech stocks edged higher in premarket trading, helped by easing U.S. Treasury yields. Alphabet and Amazon.com both rose 0.2%, while Apple was flat after touching a record high on Tuesday.

Shares of Interactive Brokers Group fell 4.5% after missing estimates for adjusted third-quarter earnings.

J.B. Hunt climbed 6.8% after beating third-quarter profit estimates on Tuesday after the bell.

(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)