Stocks: Bank earnings in focus

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- JPMorgan Chase's disappointing fourth-quarter earnings could weigh on U.S. stocks when markets open Friday.

S&P 500 (SPX), Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were slightly lower ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) shares fell 2.8% in premarket trading, after the bank announced it earned 90 cents per share in the fourth quarter, down from $1.12 a year ago.

In a statement, CEO Jamie Dimon called the results "disappointing," but said JPMorgan sees "see signs of improvement in loan demand and credit quality" going forward.

JPMorgan is the first big bank to report results for the final three months of 2011. Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) are scheduled to report their earnings on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) reports on Wednesday, and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) and Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) weigh in on Thursday.

Europe's debt crisis remains in focus, but solid demand at recent debt auctions in Italy and Spain have calmed some jitters.

Italy's 3-year debt auction on Friday raised €4.75 billion for the country, at its lowest borrowing cost since September. A day earlier, Spain's auction of nearly €10 billion worth of bonds in three different maturities was also met with strong demand, as was Italy's €8.5 billion of 12-month bills.

Stocks managed to close slightly higher Thursday, despite a choppy day of trading.

Lure to leave the euro may prove irresistible

World markets: European stocks were slightly higher in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 (UKX) ticked up 0.1%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany added 0.4% and France's CAC 40 (CAC40) rose 1%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) lost 1.3%, while Japan's Nikkei (N225) gained 1.4% and the Hang Seng (HSI) in Hong Kong added 0.6%.

Companies: Novartis (NVS) shares fell 1.5% in premarket trading, after the pharmaceutical company announced it is restructuring its U.S. business -- a move that will result in 1,960 job cuts.

The company said the restructuring will lead to a charge of $160 million in the first quarter of 2012, and an annual savings of approximately $450 million by 2013.

Economy: The government released data on U.S. trade balance Friday morning, showing the gap widened more than expected in November to $47.75 billion. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expect the trade deficit to stand at $44 billion.

December import prices slid 0.1%, while export prices were down 0.5%.

Later Friday morning, the University of Michigan will release its Consumer Sentiment Index for the month of January, which is expected to have improved to 71.2 from 69.9 in December.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar gained strength against the euro and British pound, but fell versus the Japanese yen.

Oil for February delivery rose 12 cents to $99.22 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery fell $7 to $1,640.70 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 1.88% from 1.93% late Thursday.