Bulls ready to come back out

Stocks point to rebound following the selloff that followed Fed statement and rise in oil prices; oil lower ahead of inventory report.

March 29, 2006: 6:16 AM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks look to rebound Wednesday from a selloff sparked by the Federal Reserve's statement on the need for future interest rate hikes and a rise in oil.

U.S. stock futures were up, indicating a higher open for U.S. markets Wednesday, following the drop late Tuesday after the Fed raised interest rates for the 15th straight meeting and signaled more rate hikes may be needed.

Stocks were also hurt by a rise in oil prices above the $66 a barrel market in Tuesday trading. But oil prices were lower on reports that major powers were close to a draft of a United Nations resolution dealing with Iran's nuclear program, and ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET report on U.S. fuel inventories.

The May light crude futures contract for NYMEX fell 39 cents to $65.68 a barrel in electronic trading, while the May contract for Brent crude lost 22 cents to $64.75.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei hitting a 5-1/2-year high. Major European markets were up in early trading.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 4.78 percent. The dollar was lower against the euro but up against the yen.

In corporate news, General Motors (Research) restated nearly four years of results at its GMAC finance unit, sending shares of the already battered Dow component down another 3.6 percent in heavy Frankfurt trading early Wednesday.

Shares of GM could also be under pressure on a report that a top United Auto Workers union official said the most recent offer from bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi (Research) cannot be taken back to workers for a vote in its current form. Delphi has threatened to ask a bankruptcy court judge to void its labor contract if it doesn't reach a deal with the union by Thursday, a move that could conceivably spark a strike by the union and a shutdown in production at GM.

The European Union's top antitrust regulator warned software maker Microsoft (Research) that it won't be allowed to sell its new Windows Vista operating system in Europe if it comes prepackaged with certain features. Shares of Microsoft were narrowly lower in Frankfurt trading.