US STOCKS-S&P 500 set for muted open after big bank earnings, chip slide weighs

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Purvi Agarwal

Oct 13 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 was set for a muted open on Tuesday as investors parsed quarterly results from big US banks that kick off the earnings season, while weakness in chip stocks weighed on Nasdaq futures.

Dow futures outperformed their peers, aided by a 3.5% gain in Goldman Sachs GS.N after it reported a rise in third-quarter profit, helped by steady dealmaking and increased trading revenue.

UnitedHealth UNH.N climbed 4.4% in premarket trading after raising its 2026 profit forecast as it tightened spending on medical costs and improved margins in some units.

On the other hand, JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and Wells Fargo WFC.N slipped 0.7% and 2.9% after missing profit and net interest income expectations, respectively.

Citigroup C.N and Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N lost 0.4% and 2.2%. respectively, despite topping quarterly profit estimates.

Hopes of a strong earnings season have lately propped up the broader US equity market amid growing geopolitical concerns, surging government bond yields and inflation worries.

Earnings for the S&P 500 .SPX for the July-September quarter are expected to grow 30.6%, with technology and energy companies expected to gain the most, according to data compiled by LSEG.

At 8:43 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 440 points, or 0.84%, S&P 500 E-minis were down 4.75 points, or 0.06%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 218 points, or 0.71%.

Meanwhile, US chipmakers came under pressure again after a selloff on Monday, with analysts pointing to reports around technological advances made by China's CXMT.

"It's sort of a rush-for-the-door profit-taking," said Robert Pavlik, senior portfolio manager at Dakota Wealth.

Competition from China "might take some business away from some of the more well-known companies, but I don't think it's going to take all the business away... Any kind of business that's lost could potentially have a negative impact," Pavlik added.

Chip giant Nvidia NVDA.O shed 0.8% while AMD AMD.O and Marvell Technology MRVL.O eased 1.9% and 3%, respectively. Memory chipmaker Micron Technology MU.O dipped 4.8% while data storage companies Western Digital WDC.O, Seagate STX.O and Sandisk SNDK.O dropped between 6% and 7%.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell as traders assessed supply risks from attacks on Saudi Arabia while weighing the prospect of additional diesel supplies from Russia. O/R

A spike in crude oil prices due to the US-Iran conflict has fueled inflation concerns worldwide, pushing bond yields to multi-decade highs and central banks towards tougher monetary policy.

Recent US data showing lower-than-expected inflation rise and weak jobs growth, however, have knocked off bets on imminent interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The September reading of consumer and producer prices and retail numbers due this week will now likely be under greater scrutiny.

Comments from regional Fed Presidents Thomas Barkin and Susan Collins will be scrutinized in the day.