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 Results arriving early Wednesday painted a lackluster picture of some sectors. Bond insurer Ambac Financial Group reported it swung to a loss of $1.66 billion from a profit of $213.3 million a year earlier. The loss came in part because of charges for bonds backed by soured mortgages.
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. posted a 25 percent decline in its first-quarter profit and lowered its full-year forecast because of higher medical costs.
But there has also been some upbeat earnings news. After the closing bell Tuesday, Yahoo Inc. reported stronger-than-expected profits and revenue.
Wall Street has been digesting the flood of corporate numbers arriving in recent weeks as it tries to ascertain how long a slowdown in the economy might last. With little in the way of economic news expected this week, investors are left to focus on corporate news and await the next interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, which is due in a week.
Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 29, or 0.23 percent, to 12,765. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures rose 2.30, or 0.17 percent, to 1,383.10, while Nasdaq 100 index futures rose 5.75, or 0.30 percent, to 1,900.75.
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 The rebound in stock futures comes a day after the Dow fell more than 100 points after results from names like DuPont and McDonald's Corp. failed to impress investors and as oil prices rose to fresh highs.
Light, sweet crude fell 38 cents to $117.69 in premarket electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Bond prices slipped Wednesday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.71 percent from 3.69 percent late Tuesday.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average closed up 0.23 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.09 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.52 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.87 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
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