US STOCKS-US stock futures pause after Wall Street rout, eyes on Trump at Davos

Updates with analyst comments, prices

By Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap

Jan 21 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures steadied on Wednesday following Wall Street's sharpest selloff in three months, as attention turned to President Donald Trump's remarks in Davos after his Greenland acquisition comments unsettled markets earlier in the week.

All three major U.S. indexes ended nearly 2% down on Tuesday, as investors flocked to safe-haven assets after Trump threatened to implement a wave of new tariffs on European allies until the United States is allowed to buy Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark.

Trump is giving a keynote address at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday, where he is expected to once again make a push towards acquiring Greenland.

U.S. megacap companies, including Nvidia NVDA.O and Apple AAPL.O, were among the worst hit in Tuesday's selloff. Combined with a drop in the dollar and Treasuries, the losses revived talks of the Sell America trade that emerged following the "Liberation Day" tariff announcement in April.

The CBOE Volatility index .VIX eased slightly to 19.60 points on Wednesday, having touched a two-month high of 20.99 the previous day.

At 06:48 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 36 points, or 0.07%, S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were up 2.5 points, or 0.04%, and Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were down 22.5 points, or 0.09%.

DAVOS, DATA & EARNINGS

Trump's Davos address could clarify the White House's posture on Greenland, determining whether tensions with Europe intensifies or cools.

Investors will also monitor remarks from other business and global leaders in Davos. Back in Washington, markets will watch the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments over Trump's push to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

Besides, investors face a busy week of data, including third-quarter GDP, January PMI readings and the Personal Consumption Expenditures report — the Fed's go-to inflation measure. Adding to the mix is a packed earnings calendar featuring Procter & Gamble PG.N, Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N and Intel INTC.O, which should provide an insight into consumer demand and the overall economic momentum.

Netflix NFLX.O shares dropped 6.8% in premarket trading despite beating expectations for fourth-quarter revenue and earnings, as the streaming giant remains locked in a fierce bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery WBD.O.

United Airlines UAL.O rose 3.8% after the carrier issued an upbeat outlook for the current quarter and the full year, buoyed by strong demand from higher-income and corporate travelers.

Peers American Airlines AAL.O and Delta Air Lines DAL.N rose nearly 1% each.

Halliburton HAL.N edged up 1.3% after beating estimates for fourth-quarter profit.

Of the 33 companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly earnings through last Friday, 84.8% beat analysts' estimates for profit, according to LSEG I/B/E/S data, compared to the long-term average of 67.3%.

Kraft Heinz KHC.O fell 4.6% after a regulatory filing showed Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N may shed its 27.5% stake in the consumer company.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shilpi Majumdar)

((sruthi.shankar@thomsonreuters.com;))