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 Investors appeared to be making small bets ahead of the stream of reports. Stock futures indicated little shift in sentiment from the mixed closed seen Monday when Wall Street digested disappointing news from Bank of America Corp. and a further climb in oil prices.
The same forces are likely to help shape Tuesday's session as investors comb companies' statements for insights into the health of the economy and the prospects for profits in the coming quarters.
A range of names covering a mix of industries are on deck to report, including: AK Steel Holding Corp., JetBlue Airways, Lockheed Martin Corp., United Airlines parent UAL Corp. and drug maker Wyeth.
While there is widespread acknowledgment on Wall Street of an economic slowdown, investors are busy trying to determine whether the pullback will be moderate or punishing.
Late Monday, Texas Instruments Inc. confirmed concerns held by some on Wall Street. While the company's results were nearly in line with Wall Street's expectations, the company warned of a weak market for the chips it makes for high-end mobile phones.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 6, or 0.05 percent, to 12,814. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures slipped 0.40, or 0.03 percent, to 1,387.90. The Nasdaq 100 index fell 6.75, or 0.35 percent, to 1,907.25.
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 Bond prices slipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.75 percent from 3.73 percent late Monday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Light, sweet crude rose 11 cents to $117.59 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday, oil touched an all-time high of $117.83 a barrel.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed down 1.09 percent. In morning trading, Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.20 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.39 percent, and France's CAC-40 advanced 0.34 percent.
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On the Net:
New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com/
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com/
[Associated Press; By TIM PARADIS]
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
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