NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A continued retreat in oil prices could again give stocks a lift early Wednesday as investors weigh deals and the first of the first-quarter earnings reports.

U.S. stock futures were gaining throughout much of the morning trading, indicating a higher gain at the open.

Oil futures were down in early trading Wednesday ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET report on U.S. fuel inventories.

Oil prices fell Tuesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said that market forces could lead to a big enough increase in crude-oil inventories to cool what he termed the recent oil-price "frenzy."

The May light crude contract lost 44 cents to $55.48 a barrel in electronic trading, while the May contract for Brent crude fell 32 cents to $55.12.

"I would still point to energy as one of the larger drivers today," said Art Hogan, chief market analyst at Jefferies & Co. "I'd like to think there's something other than oil moving the markets, but I don't see anything else out there positive right now. The warning from Siebel Systems (Research) on the heels of other warnings suggests software will not be the place to be."

Siebel shares lost 95 cents, or 10.4 percent, to $8.20 in pre-market trading on Inet Wednesday.

Greenspan will again make public comments Wednesday when he testifies at a Senate Banking Committee hearing looking at changing regulation of mortgage financing firms Freddie Mac (Research) and Fannie Mae (Research). Greenspan in past testimony called for limits on the two companies' portfolio of mortgage securities.

Major markets in Asia closed higher Wednesday after the fall in oil prices. Major European markets were mostly higher in early trading, although London's FTSE was slightly lower.

Treasury prices were higher, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.45 percent from 4.46 late Tuesday. The dollar gained ground on the euro and yen.

In corporate news, the board of telecom MCI (Research) again rejected a $9.1 billion bid from Qwest Communications (Research) in favor of the $7.6 billion offer from Verizon Communications (Research). The decision, the third time that MCI has decided to go with Verizon rather than Qwest, could lead to a proxy fight for MCI by Qwest.

Cablevision (Research) has reportedly made a $16.5 billion offer for the assets of bankrupt cable operator Adelphia as it tries to trump a offer from Comcast (Research) and Time Warner Cable, the industry's two largest companies, valued at $18 billion. Time Warner Cable is a unit of Time Warner (Research), as is CNN/Money.

Aluminum manufacturer Alcoa (Research) is set to kick off the earnings reporting period after the closing bell. The company is forecast to see first-quarter earnings per share rise 6 percent to 39 cents.

Dell (Research), the leading manufacturer of personal computers, holds its annual meeting for analysts at 9 a.m. ET Wednesday.

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