NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Discouraging comments from tech bellwether Hewlett-Packard could throw cold water over any anticipated follow-through rally from the previous session as investors cheered news of a temporary resolution to the West Coast Port dispute.

Around 8:45 a.m. ET, the Nasdaq-100 and the Standard & Poor's 500 futures pointed to a drop at the open for the major indexes.

A senior executive at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ: down $0.01 to $11.54, Research, Estimates), the No. 1 personal-computer maker, said late Tuesday the company is not counting on a tech recovery in 2003 and that its customers indicate their spending plans continue to remain flat. Shares of the company slipped a penny to $11.54 Tuesday.

For details of Tuesday's activity, click above

Shares of tech blue chips Microsoft (MSFT: up $0.94 to $44.99, Research, Estimates) and Intel (INTC: down $0.60 to $13.22, Research, Estimates) were pressured lower in before-hours trading.

Also adding pressure, Morgan Stanley reduced its 2003 estimate on Dow stock General Electric (GE: up $0.40 to $23.35, Research, Estimates), citing deterioration in the company's key power and aerospace markets, and concerns over losses in its GE Capital financial services arm's portfolio. GE shares fell $1 to $22.35 in before-hours trading Wednesday.

On a brighter note, ports on the West Coast are expected to reopen later Wednesday after a federal judge in San Francisco granted President Bush's request for a temporary end to the nine-day-old lockout that kept cargo ships from loading and unloading. The dispute has resulted in losses estimated at as much as $2 billion a day to the nation's economy.

The expectation of Bush's request, coming under the Taft-Hartley Act, sent stock markets higher Tuesday -- although the major indexes finished well off their peak levels. The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 78 points, while the Nasdaq composite index was up nearly 10 points (see chart for Tuesday's results).

Asian-Pacific stocks ended with losses Wednesday, as Tokyo's Nikkei index finished at another 19-year low. European markets were mixed at midday, with Frankfurt lower after Deutsche Telekom revealed it may cut as many as 55,000 jobs.

Treasury prices rose in early trading, sending the 10-year note yield down to 3.57 percent from 3.63 percent late Tuesday. The dollar was little changed against the yen, but was weaker versus the euro.

Brent oil futures rose 2 cents to $27.98 a barrel in London, where gold was lower in early trading.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs influential analyst Abby Joseph Cohen cut her S&P 500 price target to 1,150 from 1,300, and the Dow industrial target to 10,800 from 11,300, saying stocks remain undervalued amid weakness in investor confidence.

"After September 11, 2001, we assumed that the equity risk premium demanded by investors would be above the historical average, but did not anticipate the current extreme reading which is near the highs of the past three decades," Cohen said in a morning note.

Fiber-optic communications equipment Corning (GLW: down $0.23 to $1.10, Research, Estimates) reiterated its third-quarter loss estimate to come in line with expectations of between 7 to 8 cents a share but warned it expects sales for the period to come at the lower range of its guidance, citing industry weakness. Corning shares fell 23 cents to $1.10 Tuesday.

Credit Suisse First Boston cut its 2003 estimates for the telecom equipment group, citing capital spending cuts. "Despite an industry restructuring that has exceed two years in length, the vast majority of our industry group will post earnings losses during 2003," the brokerage said in its research note.

Among the companies that reported results before the bell, regional bank SunTrust Banks (STI: Research, Estimates) came in below estimates, while drugmaker Abbott Labs (ABT: Research, Estimates), M&T Bank (MTB: Research, Estimates) and sportswear maker Nautica (NAUT: Research, Estimates) came in line with expectations..

After the closing bell, Internet portal operator Yahoo! (YHOO: Research, Estimates) weighs in with its third-quarter results. It's expected to post a profit of 4 cents a share, compared with a 1-cent-a-share loss a year earlier, according to a consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call. In European trading, Yahoo! shares were about 1 percent higher.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley cut its 2003 earnings per share forecasts on automakers General Motors (GM: Research, Estimates), Ford (F: Research, Estimates) and DaimlerChrysler (DCX: Research, Estimates), citing lower production forecasts. The firm also lowered it forecast for 2003 North American production by 2.7 percent from 2002 levels. Shares of Ford fell more than 2 percent and shares of GM slid nearly 2 percent in European trading.

In a morning note on AOL Time Warner (AOL: Research, Estimates), investment bank Merrill Lynch said it believes top-level growth and strength at Time Warner is being masked by near-term operating concerns and long-term strategic uncertainty in the AOL division, and said the firm is concerned that subscription rates may peak as advertising at AOL hits bottom and begins to recover. Shares of AOL Time Warner, parent of CNN/Money, fell about 3 percent in European trading.

The firm also said that refinancing activity may not give as large a boost to holiday spending as expected based on a survey showing many homeowners that refinanced are saving the extra money rather than spend it. The firm cut estimates on electronics retailer Best Buy (BB: Research, Estimates) on the report. Shares of Best Buy gained 98 cents to $20.23 Tuesday.

Merrill upgraded the global telecom services sector to "neutral" from "underweight," saying it thinks the sector is near a bottom but that "visibility seems lower than ever and upside is limited." No.1 U.S. long-distance telephone company AT&T (T: Research, Estimates) and British Telecom (BTY: Research, Estimates) were among the firm's regional top picks. Shares of AT&T rose 1 percent in European trading.

An early Merrill note said it expects its "buy"-rated drug stocks, including Allergan (AGN: Research, Estimates), Forest Labs (FRX: Research, Estimates), King (KG: Research, Estimates) and SICOR (SCRI: Research, Estimates) to at least meet third-quarter expectations when they report their financial results.

Merrill also cut its 2003 earnings estimate on Sempra Energy (SRE: Research, Estimates) to $2.65 a share from $2.83 and slashed its price objective to $27 from $28.50, citing continued weakness in the power trading sector. Shares of Sempra fell 65 cents to $18.55 in trading Tuesday.