NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - New earnings disappointments from Amazon.com and Boeing hit stocks early Wednesday, although futures got some support from lower oil prices ahead of the closely watched U.S. fuel inventory report in the minds of investors early Wednesday.

U.S. stock futures, which were up early despite Tuesday's after-hours report from Amazon, fell into negative territory after Boeing's third quarter report, indicating a lower opening for stocks.

Dow component Boeing (Research) posted sales that missed analysts' consensus forecast. A series of special charges made it difficult to compare its earnings to forecasts, according to earnings tracker First Call, although at first blush it appears that earnings were well short of the consensus estimate.

Shares of Boeing lost 3 percent in pre-market trading on Inet, even as the company raised its full year and 2006 earnings guidance.

A weaker-than-expected third-quarter report from Amazon.com sent shares of the online retail bellwether down more than 10 percent in pre-market trading on Inet. The company's fourth quarter guidance also fell short of some forecasts.

Still, unlike some earlier disappointing guidance from bellwethers such as Intel and eBay that hit stock future, the Amazon report did not slam stocks. Part of that is due to the increased importance of energy and the weekly inventory report in recent months, said Michael Carty, stock market strategist for New Millennium Advisors.

"Energy is still driving this market; I'm waiting for the inventory report myself today," said Carty. He said that while Amazon's guidance feeds a growing concern on Wall Street about the holiday shopping period ahead, many believe that it will be energy that determines how good sales are for retailers in the next two months.

"Energy prices are going to interfere with the discretionary portion of many consumers' budget and stop them from being overly generous," said Carty.

Oil prices fell in early trading ahead of the 10:30 a.m. ET inventory reading, following the runup in prices seen Tuesday.

The December light crude futures contract for NYMEX lost 41 cents to $62.03 a barrel in electronic trading, while the December contract for Brent crude fell below the $60 benchmark, sliding 21 cents to $60.03. Oil surged Tuesday on concern about winter heating supplies, but the natural gas contract was about 11 cents lower early Wednesday.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Wednesday, with indexes up in Tokyo and Hong Kong and down in South Korea and Taipei. Major European markets were higher in early trading.

Treasury prices eased, with the yield on the 10-year note rising to 4.57 percent from 4.53 percent late Tuesday. The dollar gained against on the euro and the yen.

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