Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 26, 2022.
Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., January 26, 2022. Reuters / BRENDAN MCDERMID

The S&P 500 and the Dow were set for a subdued open on Wednesday as JPMorgan shares dropped after reporting a slump in quarterly profit, while fresh data highlighted growing inflationary pressures.

The largest U.S. bank by assets JPMorgan Chase & Co was down 3% in premarket trading after reporting a 42% drop in quarterly profit as the Ukraine crisis and decades-high inflation stalled dealmaking activity.

"When you look at results versus expectations and a stock that was doing very well in the earlier part of the year and now down year-to-date, I would say a lot of this news is baked in," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

"Coming into this earnings report, the market has done a pretty appropriate job of looking at where some of the shortfalls might be."

Quarterly results from Wall Street banks are expected to show a sharp decline in investment banking revenue and first-quarter earnings overall due to companies pausing deals amid choppy equity markets.

Other big banks Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, which report later this week and next, fell between 1.0% and 1.9%.

BlackRock Inc inched up 0.2% after posting a better-than-expected profit as the world's largest asset manager benefited from investors pouring money into its various index-traded and active funds.

Delta Air Lines Inc jumped 5.2% after it forecast a return to profit in the current quarter as airline travel demand reaches record highs.

Other airlines such as American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines Holdings Inc and Southwest Airlines Co gained between 3.4% and 4.5%.

At 08:52 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were down 19 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 0.75 points, or 0.02%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 25 points, or 0.18%.

Data on Wednesday showed producer prices increased more than expected in March amid a surge in demand for services, suggesting inflation could remain high for a while.

Data in the previous session showed consumer prices surged to a four-decade high in March, but underlying inflation pressures showed some signs of moderation, still putting the Fed on track for a 50 basis point rate hike in May.

(The story is updated to correct day to Wednesday from Monday in paragraph 1)