US STOCKS-Futures muted after Wall St rally; earnings in focus

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window.)

*

General Electric slides on weak Q1 forecast

*

Halliburton up on fourth-quarter profit beat

*

3M drops after downbeat FY forecast

*

RTX's Q4 revenue jumps on aftermarket strength, shares up

*

Futures mixed: Dow down 0.13%, S&P flat, Nasdaq up 0.12%

(Updated at 7:13 a.m. ET/1216 GMT)

By Ankika Biswas and Johann M Cherian

Jan 23 (Reuters) -

U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Tuesday as GE and Dow component 3M slumped following disappointing earnings forecasts, while investors awaited key economic data this week that could test the benchmark S&P 500's recent bull-market run.

While

3M

dropped 5.1% before the bell after the industrial conglomerate forecast dour annual earnings, General Electric fell 5.6% after the engine maker forecast bleak quarterly profit.

Halliburton

added 2.1% after the oil services firm posted upbeat quarterly profit, while Aerospace and defense giant RTX jumped 3.9% after reporting a 10% surge in fourth-quarter revenue.

All eyes are on the profit outlook for corporate America after major U.S. banks kicked off the ongoing earnings season, which has been mixed so far, with lower profits.

Of the S&P 500 companies that reported results till Friday, 84.6% surpassed earnings expectations, compared with the 93.1% beat seen in the week prior to that, LSEG data showed.

The benchmark S&P 500 touched a fresh intraday record peak and closed at an all-time high for a second session on Monday, extending a bull-market run, fueled by strength in megacap tech and chip stocks.

The blue-chip Dow also surpassed the 38,000-point mark for the first time on Monday, gaining for the third trading day.

"We are optimistic for U.S. equity markets in 2024 and in particular for the prospects of small- and mid-cap companies (SMIDs)," said Mark Sherlock, Head of U.S. Equites, Federated Hermes.

"The U.S. economy, and importantly the U.S. consumer, remain healthy and the Fed’s fight against inflation appears on track."

The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - along with the S&P Global PMI readings and an advance fourth-quarter GDP print this week will be key in assessing the central bank's next policy decision when it meets on Jan. 31.

Wall Street had lost steam at the start of 2024, struck by a mixed bag of inflation data and Federal Reserve policymakers clamping down on market speculation of interest-rate cuts arriving as early as March this year.

Traders' expectations of U.S. monetary policy easing have now deferred to May, with an 84% odd for an at least 25-basis-point cut, as per the CME Group's FedWatch Tool, from earlier expectations of March.

At 7:13 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 48 points, or 0.13%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.5 points, or 0.05%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 20.75 points, or 0.12%.

Among others,

D.R. Horton

shed 5.2% as the homebuilder missed estimates for first-quarter profit, while Procter & Gamble cut its annual profit forecast on a fading boost from earlier price hikes and on writing down its Gillette business's value in December. However, its shares were up 1%.

United Airlines gained 6.8% following an upbeat full-year outlook, steering an over-2.6% gain in each of the other airline stocks such as Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group and Southwest Airlines.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain-related stocks including Coinbase Global, Bitfarms, Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital declined between 2.4% and 4.0% after bitcoin fell below the $40,000-mark, hitting a more than seven-week low.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas, Johann M Cherian and Shubham Batra; Editing by Maju Samuel and Pooja Desai)