Futures Lower Despite Solid Bank Earnings

U.S. stock index futures were lower Wednesday as worried over global economic growth overshadowed a pair of strong bank earnings.

Goldman Sachs rallied after the financial giant posted fourth-quarter earnings that nearly tripled, helped by gains in stock and bond values, increased M&A revenue and lower compensation expenses.

And JPMorgan Chase edged higher after the largest U.S. bank beat earnings expectations, thanks to increased mortgage lending profit and a decline in costs for bad loans. Meanwhile, the firm slashed CEO Jamie Dimon's bonus in half, citing the company's $6.2 billion "London Whale" trading loss last year.

Ebay is scheduled to post results after the closing bell.

Meanwhile, the World Bank slashed its outlook for world growth to 2.4 percent in 2013, saying a slow recovery in developed nations is holding back the global economy.

On the economic front, consumer prices were unchanged in December, according to the Labor Department, giving the Federal Reserve space to prop up the economy by staying on its easy monetary policy path. The reading was in line with expectations.

And industrial production gained 0.3 percent in December and capacity utilization stood at 78.5 percent, according to the Federal Reserve after a 1 percent gain in November.

Boeing slumped on worries about the safety of its Dreamliners. Late Tuesday, Japan's ANA 787 made an emergency landing due to a battery malfunction warning in the cockpit, adding to a string of problems that occurred last week. Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the Dow component to "buy" from "conviction buy."

Talks to take Dell private advanced with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, according to Reuters. A deal for the computer software company could be announced in two weeks and the price will likely be between $13.5 a share and $14 a share, with an equity investment from Silver Lake and other investors of roughly $2 billion, CNBC learned.

The Fed will report on industrial production and capital utilization, at 9.15 a.m. Economists polled by Briefing.com predict production rose by 0.2 percent in December and capacity utilization stood at 78.5 percent. In November,production grew by 1.1 percent and utilization came in at 78.4 percent.

Mortgage applications gained for a second week, according to the the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The National Association of Home Builders' market sentiment index for January at 10 am ET.

The Federal Reserve's January edition of the Beige Book, its region-by-region assessment of the economy, will be released at 2 pm ET.

—By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)

Coming Up This Week:

WEDNESDAY: Treasury int'l capital, industrial production, housing market index, Fed's Kocherlakota speaks, oil inventories, Beige Book, Fed's Fisher speaks, OPEC's monthly market report; Earnings from Ebay
THURSDAY: Housing starts, jobless claims, Philadelphia Fed survey, natural gas inventories, Fed's Lockhart speaks, Fed balance sheet, money supply; Earnings from Bank of America, Citigroup, UnitedHealth, BB&T, BlackRock, American Express, Intel, Capital One
FRIDAY: General Electric, Schlumberger, Morgan Stanley

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