Updates prices

By Ragini Mathur and Avinash P

July 14 (Reuters) - S&P 500 and Dow futures fell on Tuesday in choppy trading as investors sifted through earnings reports from Wall Street's biggest banks, while IBM shares crashed after a dismal revenue forecast.

June consumer price index data, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to show inflation eased last month. A slowdown may offer little reassurance to households and markets, with Middle East tensions threatening to lift energy costs again, keeping the Federal Reserve on guard.

"Gasoline prices are already back above June levels, meaning the next inflation report will heat up again. So today's CPI figures may matter less than the re-escalating geopolitical tensions," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

The data will be followed by remarks from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, who is scheduled to deliver the central bank's semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress at 10 a.m. ET.

EARNINGS IN FOCUS

IBM IBM.N shares tumbled 17.3% in premarket trading after the software and consulting firm forecast preliminary second quarter revenue below estimates.

Shares of other software stocks fell, tracing declines in IBM. Oracle ORCL.N dropped 2.3% and Service Now NOW.N fell 6.8%. Accenture ACN.N and Adobe ADBE.O declined 8.5% and 4.8%, respectively.

Big bank results kick started the second-quarter earnings season on Wall Street.

JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and Bank of America BAC.N declined 2.7% and 0.8% despite reporting higher second quarter profit.

Investors scrutinized the results for early signals on the health of corporate America as well as cues for market direction. The earnings season could prove pivotal for this year's equity rally, which has lifted the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX by about 10%.

At 7:14 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis YMcv1 were down 448 points, or 0.85%, and S&P 500 E-minis EScv1 were down 13.75 points, or 0.18%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis NQcv1 were up 100.25 points, or 0.35%.

Nasdaq futures gained some ground after the tech-heavy index .IXIC fell 1.6% on Monday.

Investors were also unsettled by hawkish comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller, who said on Monday that the central bank may need to raise interest rates "in the near term" if inflation remains well above its 2% target.

Traders are pricing in a 39% chance of a quarter-point rate increase at the Fed's July 29 meeting, according to CME's FedWatch tool.

Those expectations, combined with a third straight night of U.S. military strikes against Iran and the possibility of a 20% fee on cargo ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, kept markets cautious. Oil futures rose to their highest in four weeks.

Chip stocks steadied after sharp losses in the previous session, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF SOXX.O rising 2.2%.