NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Stocks were poised to run into trouble early Wednesday following a disappointing sales outlook from No. 1 chipmaker Intel that dampened even a surprise increase in housing starts.

U.S. stock futures were down sharply, indicating a lower opening for stocks, after Intel beat third quarter sales and earnings forecasts after the market close Tuesday, but issued weaker-than-hoped-for fourth-quarter sales guidance.

The commerce department said housing starts for the month of September rose to 2.11 million at an annualized rate, up from August's revised rate of 2.04 million. Analysts were looking for a drop to 1.98 million, according to Briefing.com.

Shares of Intel (Research) were off nearly 4 percent in pre-market trading on Inet early Wednesday.

"It wasn't terrible guidance, it was just low enough to leave people wondering what it means," Cody Acree, a managing director at Legg Mason Wood Walker told CNN/Money late Tuesday. "What people were looking for or what the market needed was for Intel to....(deliver) unequivocal strength in guidance."

But David Kelly, economic adviser for Putnam Investments, said that the reaction had less to do wiht Intel than with a generally negative outlook by investors in the current market.

"I think the markets are looking for the bad news in general," he said Wednesday. "I think the thing it really reflects is the enormous hit that consumer confidence took in September after the hurricanes and oil shocks, and I think that is what is feeding into the markets right now. If investors were in a better mood, they'd shrug off a lot of these things."

Another tech bellwether, Internet company Yahoo! (Research), also reported better-than-forecast earnings and sales Tuesday after the bell. But despite the strong report its shares fell in after-hours trading.

Oil prices rose Wednesday ahead of the weekly report on U.S. fuel inventories, even as Hurricane Wilma was projected to hit the Florida Gulf Coast rather than threaten U.S. oil facilities off the Louisiana and Texas coasts.

The November light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 12 cents to $63.32 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude rose 21 cents to $59.49.

Major markets in Asia closed lower Wednesday. Major European markets were lower in early trading.

Treasury prices were higher, cutting the yield on the 10-year note to 4.44 percent from 4.47 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar gained ground against on the euro and the yen, after Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson said that the Fed was ready to move away from its course of "measured" interest rate hikes if necessary. But he added that the hikes look like the best course for the economy right now.

Economic reports include the latest readings on housing starts and building permits. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast that housing starts slipped to an annual rate of 1.98 million in September from 2.01 million in August. Permits are seen slipping to an annual rate of 2.1 million.

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