Stocks feeling chipper? (dados para hoje)

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Stocks feeling chipper?

Strong earnings, outlook from Intel and Yahoo! lifting futures ahead of Wednesday's reports.

April 20, 2005: 6:48 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Strong earnings and outlook by tech bellwethers Intel and Yahoo! could give stocks a strong boost early Wednesday.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading, indicating a higher opening for stocks ahead of a new round of earnings reports and a much anticipated report on prices paid by consumers.

After the market close Tuesday, leading chipmaker Intel (Research) beat first quarter earnings forecasts and gave a bullish outlook for chip demand ahead. Internet search engine Yahoo! (Research) also beat forecasts and raised guidance. Both stocks gained in after hours trading.


John Silvia, chief economist for Wachovia Securities said that after last week's earnings miss by IBM raised concerns about a much weaker-than-expected economy, the stronger reports so far this week by major companies has helped turn around investor sentiment.

"It's been needed psychological relief for stocks," he said. "Unless we see some real disappointments today, I think stocks should do well."

Earnings reports are due Wednesday morning from Ford Motor (Research) as well as Dow components J.P. Morgan Chase (Research), Altria (Research), Caterpillar (Research), Honeywell (Research) and United Technologies (Research). Two more high profile tech companies -- eBay (Research), and Motorola (Research) are set to report after the market close.

On the economic front, economists surveyed by Briefing.com expect the Consumer Price Index, the government's main inflation reading, to be up 0.5 percent in March after a 0.4 percent rise in February. The so-called "core CPI," which excludes often volatile fuel and energy prices, is forecast to be up 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent rise the previous month.

A larger-than-expected jump in prices could revive concerns that the Federal Reserve will start raising interest rates faster to combat inflation. But Silvia said he believes that, even if CPI is higher than expected, the Fed will stick with its policy of quarter-percentage point rate hikes.

Oil prices were higher in early trading following a rebound Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's report on U.S. fuel inventories.

The May light crude contract gained 38 cents to $52.67 a barrel in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude rose 70 cents to $53.64.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Wednesday on the strong tech earnings. Major European markets were higher in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower changed, lifting the yield on the 10-year note at 4.22 percent from the 4.20 percent level late Tuesday. The dollar gained ground on the euro and the yen.

In other corporate news, America West (Research) is reportedly in advanced merger talks with bankrupt carrier US Airways (Research).