wall street buckles up, page-9

pining for a pause Pining for a pause
Stock futures higher ahead of release of Fed minutes due Wednesday afternoon; oil lower the day before inventory report, OPEC meeting.
May 31, 2006: 6:27 AM EDT


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Investors were optimistic ahead of the latest look at Federal Reserve thinking and on lower oil prices the day before an OPEC meeting and a U.S. fuel inventory report.

U.S. stock futures were up in early trading, indicating a higher open for U.S. markets. At 2 p.m. the Fed will release the minutes of its May 10 meeting, and investors are hoping for signs that at least some of the central bank policymakers are ready to pause their two-year course of interest rate hikes when they meet next June 28 and 29.

Stocks headed into the last day of May down sharply on the month, with the Dow losing nearly 5 percent since that May 10 meeting. After a positive week for stocks last week, stocks sold off again Tuesday, partly on Fed concerns.

Oil prices were lower. The U.S. fuel inventory report, which is normally released Wednesday, will be a day later this week due to the Memorial Day holiday. Also on Thursday OPEC oil ministers are set to meet in Caracas, Venezuela. Wednesday Reuters reported that the Nigerian oil minister said on a third of the country's oil output closed after militant attacks could return in the next couple of weeks.

The July light crude futures contract for NYMEX was down 85 cents to $71.18 in electronic trading, while the July contract for Brent crude lost 74 cents to $70.31.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Wednesday, although markets were closed in Hong Kong and Taiwan for a holiday and in South Korea for elections. Shares of Toyota fell in Tokyo trading after the automaker announced it would recall a total of about 1 million vehicles, including some of its hybrid Prius. Major European markets were up in early trading.

Treasury prices were lower, lifting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 5.08 percent from the 5.07 percent level reached late Tuesday. The dollar was lower against the yen and little changed against the euro.

In corporate news, Internet bellwether Google (Research) meetings with analysts starting at 2 p.m. ET. The meeting was only announced a week ago.

Utility Mirant (Research) said late Tuesday it offered about $8 billion to buy NRG Energy (Research), but NRG, an independent power producer, rejected the proposal without entering into discussions. Shares of NRG gained 28 percent in after-hours trading.

For a more detailed look at the markets before the open, click here.

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