Stocks ready to build

U.S. markets could open higher as investors await a wave of quarterly results.

January 16 2007: 6:40 AM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks could add to recent peaks when trading begins Tuesday, as investors anxiously await quarterly earnings reports.

At 6:38 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were slightly lower. But, after taking fair value into consideration, the futures pointed to a higher start for the major indexes.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed at a record high Friday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished at its highest point in more than six years, while the Nasdaq composite index ended at its highest point in nearly six years.

Oil was little changed, as OPEC oil ministers made conflicting statements whether the oil cartel should hold an emergency meeting to discuss further production cuts. U.S. light crude fell 6 cents to $52.93 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices rose, cutting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.75 percent from 4.77 percent late Friday.

Among stocks in the news ahead of the market open were Hewlett-Packard (Charts), Pfizer, (Charts) General Electric (Charts), Sony (Charts) and Viacom (Charts).

Computer and peripheral maker HP announced that its researchers achieved a breakthrough in improving computer chips with techniques from the field of nanotechnology.

Jeffrey Kindler, the new CEO of drugmaker Pfizer, is preparing a plan that could include cutting several thousand jobs and changing the way it develops, makes and markets medicines, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

GE (Charts) has agreed to buy the aerospace business of Britain's Smiths Group for $4.8 billion cash.

Sony (Charts) will reach only 75 percent of its global target for PlayStation 3 sales this fiscal year through March, according to a Nomura report released Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

But the entertainment and media conglomerate got some good news when its movie "Dreamgirls" won the Golden Globe award for best musical or comedy. That makes it one of the frontrunners for the Academy Award for best picture to be awarded next month, along with the movie "Babel," which took the prize for best drama.

"Babel" is made by Paramount, a unit of Viacom.

In overseas markets, stocks in Asia were mostly flat at the close Tuesday, while stocks in Europe were narrowly lower.

The only economic report due Tuesday is the Empire State Index, the New Yorik Federal Reserve's reading of manufacturing strength in its region, and one of the first takes on economic strength in the new year. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the index fell to 20 from 23.1 in December.