Futures Edge Up; J.P. Morgan Results in Focus

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U.S. stock-index futures tilted higher on Friday, but a trading loss that was bigger than initially anticipated at J.P. Morgan Chase weighed on sentiment.

Today's Markets

As of 8:36 a.m. ET, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 36 points to 12538, S&P 500 futures gained 3.3 points to 1333 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 8.5 points to 2546.

It has been a rough few sessions for Wall Street, with the broad S&P 500 falling for six days in a row. J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) kicked off earnings season for the big U.S. banks, reporting more details on its "White Whale" trading loss and revealing issues with its first-quarter release.

The biggest U.S. bank by assets posted second-quarter earnings of $1.21 a share on sales of $22.9 billion. Analysts expected it to earn 70 cents on $21.79 billion. It wasn't immediately clear whether the two figures were comparable. The bank said it took a $4.4 billion pre-tax trading loss from its Chief Investment Office. It also said it will restate its first-quarter results after finding information relating to its CIO that “suggests that certain individuals may have been seeking to avoid showing the full amount of the losses in the portfolio during the first quarter.”

Shares were essentially flat in early trade.

Traders also got data on the Chinese economy on the day. The world's No. 2 economy grew at an annualized pace of 7.6% in the second quarter, significantly slower than the 8.1% grwoth rate from the first three months of the year.

U.S. producer prices rose 0.1% in June, according to the Labor Department, surprising economists who were expecting a 0.5% decline. Excluding the food and energy components, prices were up 0.2% , in line with expectations.

The Reuters/University of Michigan report on U.S. consumer sentiment is on tap for 9:55 a.m. ET. The gauge is forecast to have ticked up slightly in July from the end of June.

Commodities were broadly higher. The benchmark crude oil contract traded in New York rose 83 cents, or 0.96%, to $86.91 a barrel. Wholesale New York Harbor gasoline gained 0.29% to $2.814 a gallon.

In metals, gold jumped $18.40, or 1.2%, to $1,584 a troy ounce.

Foreign Markets

The Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.49% to 2239, the English FTSE 100 gained 0.52% to 5637 and the German DAX jumped 1.2% to 6496.

In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei 225 edged up by 0.05% to 8724 and the Chinese Hang Seng rose 0.35% to 19093.