US STOCKS-Futures flat as investors weigh bank results

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* Futures: Dow and S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.11%

By Medha Singh
July 17 (Reuters) - Worries about the balance of monetary
policy and growth kept U.S. stock futures flat on Wednesday,
subduing the impact of solid results from Bank of America and a
boost for chipmakers from Dutch company ASML.
The second largest U.S. lender BAC.N reported a
better-than-expected quarterly profit as a healthy domestic
economy boosted demand for loans. Its shares were trading flat
premarket. Earnings from the big banks JPMorgan Chase & Co JPM.N ,
Citigroup Inc C.N and Wells Fargo & Co WFC.N this week have
raised concerns that lower interest rates will pressure profits
at a time when revenue growth is already slow. Morgan Stanley
MS.N will wrap up earnings for Wall Street banks on Thursday.
U.S. stock markets have been trending higher since a sharp
fall in May that cast doubt on the fate of a decade-long bull
market.
Expectations of monetary easing have powered those gains,
but a fall in markets last week reflected concerns that global
growth outlook may not justify forecasts of several rate cuts by
the end of this year.
The key variables for markets in coming days will be data as
well as Beijing and Washington's rhetoric on trade and a flood
of second-quarter earnings reports.
Adding some nervousness to markets was a threat from U.S.
President Donald Trump to tax another $325 billion worth of
Chinese goods. In latest evidence that trade tensions were hurting
businesses, railroad CSX Corp CSX.O reported a quarterly
profit that missed estimates and lowered its full-year revenue
forecast, sending its shares 7.2% lower. Profit for S&P 500 companies is expected to dip 0.1%, the
first quarterly drop in three years, according to Refinitiv IBES
data.
Meanwhile, strong quarterly profit from Dutch chip equipment
maker ASML ASML.AS helped semiconductor makers including
Advanced Micro Devices Inc AMD.O , Micron Technology Inc
MU.O , Intel Corp INTC.O and Applied Materials Inc AMAT.O
rise between 0.4% and 1.6%. Qualcomm Inc QCOM.O jumped 5.6% after the U.S. Justice
Department asked a federal appeals court to pause the
enforcement of a sweeping antitrust ruling against the mobile
chip supplier. At 7:05 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 6 points, or
0.02%. S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 1 points, or 0.03% and
Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 8.75 points, or 0.11%.
In the previous session, bank results and Trump's comments
on trade weighed on the three main Wall Street indexes, easing
them from record levels. Hopes of an interest rate cut at the
Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which is two weeks away, have
pushed them to all-time highs.
At 8:30 a.m. ET, a U.S. Commerce Department report is likely
to show housing starts numbers dropped to 1.261 million units in
June from 1.269 million units a year ago.
After markets close, Netflix Inc NFLX.O will be the first
FAANG company to report results.