Bank earnings ahead, Microsoft-Activision deal latest - what's moving markets
Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures were mixed heading into the final trading day of the week, with investors preparing for the release of quarterly results from large Wall Street banks and parsing through recent inflation data. Elevated interest rates are expected to factor heavily into returns from lenders JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) on Friday, as a fresh corporate earnings season gets underway. Elsewhere, the U.K.'s competition regulator approves Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) restructured acquisition of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), clearing the way for the closure of the largest deal in the history of the gaming industry.
1. Futures mixed
Stock futures in New York were mixed on Friday, as traders geared up for results from major banks and digested stronger-than-anticipated U.S. consumer price data.
By 05:08 ET (09:08 GMT), the Dow futures contract had added 38 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures were mostly unchanged, and Nasdaq 100 futures edged down by 21 points or 0.1%.
The main indices closed lower in the prior session, weighed down by a jump in U.S. Treasury yields in the wake of data showing higher-than-expected annual headline inflation in the world's largest economy in September. The reading fueled projections that the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates yet again before the end of the year to cool stubbornly elevated price gains.
Ongoing violence in the Middle East also contributed to a cautious mood in markets.
The 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.5%, while the benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both fell by 0.6%.
2. Bank earnings ahead
Attention now turns to returns from key Wall Street lenders on Friday, an event that
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