NEW YORK (AP) - Wall Street headed for a slightly higher opening Wednesday ahead of a report on factory orders that could give another glimpse of how the economy is faring.
The Commerce Department is expected to report that factory orders slowed in May due to shrinking demand. The report, due at 10 a.m. EDT, is expected to show that orders rose by 0.6 percent, according to a consensus of Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Financial.
The concern in the market is that slowing orders will provide further evidence that higher energy prices are eroding consumer demand for discretionary items - everything from big screen televisions to clothing. Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy.
Oil extended its advance Wednesday. A barrel of light sweet crude rose 22 cents to $141.19 in premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid fears about tight supply and tensions in the Middle East.
The Energy Department releases it weekly report on oil and fuel inventories later Wednesday morning; the report generally causes some volatility in oil trading.
Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 3, or 0.01 percent, to 11,382. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 5.30, or 0.41 percent, to 1,291.50, and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 12.50, or 0.67 percent, to 1,881.50.
Bond prices were little changed Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 4.02 percent from 4.01 percent late Tuesday. The dollar slipped versus other major currencies, while gold prices rose.
In corporate news, Microsoft Corp. has approached other media companies about a bid to acquire Yahoo Inc., according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.
Starbucks Corp. announced late Tuesday it will close 600 company-operated stores in the next year because of the faltering U.S. economy. The company said 70 percent of those slated for closure opened after the start of 2006.
And Blockbuster Inc. said it is withdrawing its proposal to buy Circuit City Stores Inc. Blockbuster said the proposed deal, at a price of more than $1 billion, didn't make sense because of market conditions.
Health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc. lowered its 2008 profit outlook, citing reduced commercial business and higher-than-expected Medicare-related costs. Separately, the company also said it agreed to pay $895 million to settle a class action lawsuit with the California Public Employees Retirement System and the Alaska Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry Pension Trust.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.31 percent. In afternoon trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.19 percent, Germany's DAX index added 0.79 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.24 percent.
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