Futures mixed as investors await earnings; chip stocks slip

(Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were mixed on Tuesday as investors took a breather after a rally in the previous session, ahead of a slew of quarterly results from companies including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.

Shares of AI-darling Nvidia, however, fell 1% in premarket trading following a record high close on Monday, after a report the U.S. is considering limiting exports of advanced artificial intelligence chips from the company and other U.S. peers to some countries.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices and Intel were down 1% and 0.6%, respectively.

At 5:20 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were up 54 points, or 0.12%, U.S. S&P 500 E-minis were down 3 points, or 0.05% and Nasdaq 100 E-minis were down 36 points, or 0.17%.

All three major indexes jumped on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Dow Jones notching record highs for the second consecutive session, as optimism over a strong third-quarter earnings season and a rally in tech stocks lifted equities.

The Dow closed above the 43,000-mark for the first time, while the benchmark S&P 500 is nearing the psychologically significant 6,000 level.

Earnings from major banks including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo last week kicked off the third-quarter reporting season on an upbeat note.

Forty-one S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report results this week, which will help investors gauge the health of the U.S. economy. Large corporates will also need to justify their expensive stock valuations, particularly in the tech sector, where valuations have grown increasingly lofty in the past year.

"As earnings season is set to begin, the tech and communications sectors are expected to post the biggest year-over growth," said Bret Kenwell, U.S. investment analyst at eToro.

"So long as the bullish pillars remain in place for equity markets, we should see the Nasdaq join the S&P 500 and Dow in making new all-time highs."

Earnings from companies including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Johnson & Johnson are due before the bell.

Meanwhile, shares of oil companies lost ground, tracking sharp declines in crude prices as supply concerns eased after a media report said Israel is willing to not strike Iranian oil targets. [O/R]

Exxon Mobil lost 2.7%, Occidental Petroleum fell 2.6% and Chevron dipped 2.4%.

Speeches from Federal Reserve officials Mary Daly and Raphael Bostic are also on deck.

Traders are pricing in about an 87% probability the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points next month and a slight chance it will leave rates unchanged, according to CME's FedWatch.

(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)