(Jan 13): US stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday as Bank of America kicked off the fourth-quarter earnings season, with reports from two other big US banks still to come.

Shares of Bank of America were little changed at US$22.90 in choppy premarket trading after the lender's quarterly profit beat estimates, but its revenue fell short.

JPMorgan, and Wells Fargo are scheduled to report quarterly results at 8:00am ET (1300 GMT).

The S&P financial sector has jumped about 17% since the Nov 8 US presidential election, outpacing the S&P 500's 6.1% rise, boosted by hopes of deregulation and increased interest rates.

Overall, fourth-quarter earnings at S&P 500 companies are expected to have risen 5.7% from a year ago, while revenue likely increased 4.4%, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Wall Street closed lower on Thursday, a day after US President-elect Donald Trump dashed investor hopes for new details on his policy plans in his first news conference.

Oil prices were down 1% on Friday on lingering doubts over the extent of OPEC cuts, with sentiment worsened by concerns over the health of the Chinese economy.

Chinese economic data showed December exports fell by 6.1%, meaning the overall fall in exports last year was the biggest since the depths of the crisis in 2009.

US economic data on tap includes December retail sales, which likely surged 0.7% after edging up 0.1% in November. The data is expected at 8:30am ET.

A separate report at 10am ET is expected to show US consumer sentiment improved to 98.5 in January from 98.2.

Philadelphia Fed Chief Patrick Harker is scheduled to speak on "economic mobility" at 9:30am ET. Harker is a voting member of the policy-setting committee at the Federal Reserve.

Pandora Media was up 8.7% at US$13.04 after the online radio service said it would reduce its US workforce and that it expects to surpass its fourth-quarter revenue forecast.

Futures snapshot at 7:01am ET:

Dow e-minis were up 24 points, or 0.12%, with 11,181 contracts changing hands.

S&P 500 e-minis were up 2.25 points, or 0.1%, with 67,470 contracts traded.

Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 8 points, or 0.16%, on volume of 11,415 contracts.