Futuros EUA positivos: Bulls pumped up by Fed, tech

[notiCIas]

Bulls pumped up by Fed, tech

Strong reports from IBM, Texas Instruments and Yahoo! help lift stock futures, although eyes will be on inflation, fuel inventory reports due Wednesday morning.

April 19, 2006: 6:24 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Strong results from some tech bellwethers could give stocks a lift in early trading Wednesday, but later in the morning investors are likely to turn their attention to prices, especially energy prices and supplies.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading, indicating a higher open for U.S. markets, after computer maker IBM (Research) reported better than expected results, and strong cell phone demand lifted results at chipmaker Texas Instruments (Research). While cell phone maker Motorola (Research) posted slightly reduced results, its shares rose on bullish guidance for the current period.

Internet firm Yahoo! (Research) came in with earnings and revenue roughly in line with estimates, but its shares also rallied in after-hours trading as it quieted fears that it would disappoint investors again this quarter.

But the direction of futures could change at 8:30 a.m. ET (13:30 em Portugal) when the government gives its latest inflation reading. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that the Consumer Price Index, the key measure of prices paid by consumers, rose 0.4 percent in March, up from only a 0.1 percent rise in February. The so called core CPI, which excludes often volatile food and energy prices, is forecast to be up a more modest 0.2 percent after only a 0.1 percent gain the month before.

A bad CPI report could reverse some of the positive momentum that gave stocks a large boost Tuesday afternoon, after the release of minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve meeting suggested the U.S. central bank is getting close to the end of its course of interest rate hikes. A report showing modest CPI gains could feed Tuesday's rally further.

Then at 10:30 a.m. ET the Energy Department releases its weekly report on U.S. fuel inventories. Oil prices, which posted a record close for the second straight day Tuesday, remained high but slid slightly in early trading ahead of the closely watched inventory report.

The May light crude futures contract for NYMEX slipped 26 cents to $71.09 a barrel in electronic trading, while the June contract for Brent crude edged 4 cents lower to $72.47.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Wednesday, building on the afternoon gains in the U.S. market and the strong tech results. Major European markets also were up in early trading.

Treasury prices continued the rally that started with the release of the Fed minutes Tuesday, cutting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 4.95 percent level from the 4.98 percent level reached late Tuesday. The dollar was lower against the yen and the euro in early trading.

In other earnings news, reports are due before the market opens from five Dow components -- the nation's No. 3 bank JP Morgan Chase, drugmaker Pfizer, soft drink maker Coca-Cola and diversified manufacturers Honeywell and United Technologies. After the bell will come reports from another raft of tech bellwethers, including No. 1 chipmaker Intel, computer maker Apple, and online auction site eBay, as well as the first report as a public company by the NYSE Group.

Apache (Research) will buy all of BP (Research) remaining oil and natural-gas fields on the Gulf of Mexico's continental shelf for $1.3 billion, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.