* Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo to report
* Strong Apple, IBM profits raise earnings season hopes
* Futures: S&P down 0.6 pt, Dow flat, Nasdaq up 0.25 pt
By Angela Moon
NEW YORK, Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors awaited results from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo after financial stocks were weighed in the previous session by disappointing results from Citigroup.
* A number of banks are scheduled to release results throughout the day, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which is expected to report a 50 percent fall in quarterly profit due to the same weak fixed income trading environment that hurt Citigroup Inc results.
* Wall Street looks for Goldman to earn about $3.76 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
* State Street Corp, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo & Co as well as online auctioneer eBay Inc.are also set to report later Wednesday.
* Strong earnings from Apple Inc and International Business Machines Corp late Tuesday reinforced hopes of a strong corporate earnings season.
* Apple's profit blew past Wall Street expectations on strong sales of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. The results offered some reassurance to investors worried over what impact the latest medical leave by Chief Executive Steve Jobs would have on future growth.
* IBM's quarterly profit also easily topped estimates, and a recovery in its services business raised hopes that global companies would spend more on technology.
* S&P 500 futures fell 0.6 point and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures were unchanged, while Nasdaq 100 futures gained 0.25 point.
* U.S. stocks ended higher Tuesday as investors focused on increased price targets for Google Inc, which reports later in the week, and Dow component Caterpillar Inc, coming next week.
* Optimism about earnings has bolstered equities, with the S&P 500 ending last Friday with its seventh straight week of gains.
* In company news, agribusiness giant Cargill Inc plans to spin off its $24 billion majority stake in Mosaic Co, a move that could lead to a takeover of Mosaic, the world's No. 2 fertilizer producer.
* Executives from General Electric Co, Microsoft Corp, Goldman Sachs, Coca-Cola Co, Boeing Co, Intel Corp and Carlyle Group will be among corporate leaders at a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday.
* On the economic front, U.S. housing starts for December is due at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT).