US stocks open flat as bank results and CPI loom

US stock indexes opened near flat on Monday, October 12, as investors prepared for third-quarter bank earnings and the US consumer price index. The Columbus Day holiday kept the US Treasury market closed, reinforcing caution after a week of gains.

At 10:35 Brasília time, Dow Jones futures rose 0.40%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.06%, and Nasdaq futures slipped 0.15%. Major lenders including JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Bank of America begin reporting their quarterly results on Tuesday.

The US consumer price index is scheduled for release on Wednesday, October 14. According to the CME FedWatch tool, pricing implies an 81% probability that the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates unchanged in October. For December, market pricing shows an 88% chance of another rate increase, following the central bank's hike last month, which was its first in more than three years. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack is scheduled to speak on Monday.

In commodities, WTI crude gained 2% by the morning, erasing overnight losses. The move followed an announcement by US President Donald Trump of a deal to buy Russian diesel, alongside his statement that Russia and Ukraine agreed to pause strikes on energy infrastructure.

In pre-market trading, cloud company Iren jumped 4.4% following an agreement with Anthropic. Semiconductor stocks fell after reports that Chinese firm CXMT advanced in developing a high-capacity memory chip: Micron dropped 2%, Intel lost 1.5%, and Marvell fell 0.7%. In Asia, South Korea's Kospi closed down 3.65% at 6,384.24 points in Seoul.