US STOCKS-Wall Street muted after mixed bank earnings

* J.B. Hunt jumps after strong DCS performance
* Banking index marginally down
* Goldman Sachs rises after profit beat
* June retail sales better than expected
* Indexes: Dow up 0.02%, S&P down 0.05%, Nasdaq off 0.05%

(Updates to open)
By Medha Singh
July 16 (Reuters) - U.S. stock indexes treaded water on
Tuesday as Wall Street's big banks swung between gains and
losses after their quarterly results drew mixed reactions from
investors.
JPMorgan, the largest U.S. bank by assets, beat profit
estimates but interest margin slipped, triggering concerns of
lower interest rates hurting bank profits, a day after Citigroup
Inc C.N reported a similar drop.
JPM shares were marginally higher in volatile trade after
slipping as much as 1% during the session. The S&P banking index
.SPXBK was down 0.23%.
Goldman Sachs GS.N rose 2.4% and Wells Fargo WFC.N
gained 0.5% after the banks reported quarterly profit that
topped estimates. "Investors are closely watching whether the changing
interest rate environment will impact net interest income
guidance," said Jason Benowitz, senior portfolio manager at the
Roosevelt Investment Group Inc in New York.
Hopes of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve as
early as this month to cushion the economy from any slowdown due
to trade tensions have helped Wall Street's three main indexes
scale fresh record highs in July.
As earnings season gathers steam this week, investors will
be closely watching for indications of how a protracted
U.S.-China trade war has hurt the quarterly profits and
forecasts of companies.
Profit at S&P 500 companies is likely to dip 0.3%, which
would be the first quarterly drop in three years, according to
Refinitiv IBES data.
"We're going to need extraordinarily good news in order to
keep the market rallying at a fast pace. It will be really
difficult to do that until we get into the full earnings
season," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan
Capital Securities in New York.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc JBHT.O jumped 8.9%, the
most among S&P 500 companies, after the transport and logistics
provider posted strong quarterly performance in its second
biggest unit DCS. The gains also boosted the Dow Jones transport
index .DJT 2.15% higher.
At 9:54 a.m. ET the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI was
up 6.28 points, or 0.02%, at 27,365.44, the S&P 500 .SPX was
down 1.60 points, or 0.05%, at 3,012.70 and the Nasdaq Composite
.IXIC was down 4.54 points, or 0.05%, at 8,253.64.
Dow Industrials member .DJI Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N
hiked its full-year operational sales forecast as strong demand
for its cancer drugs Darzalex and Imbruvica. Its shares fell
1.4% . Economic data was a bright spot. A Commerce Department
report showed retail sales increased more than expected in June,
while a Federal Reserve report showed U.S. manufacturing output
accelerated in June, climbing for the second straight month.
"It's important that we get macro news that suggests we're
not heading towards a recession due to the trade war," Cardillo
said.
Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.11-to-1 ratio
on the NYSE and for a 1.09-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.
The S&P index recorded 40 new 52-week highs and one new
lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 30 new lows.