NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Stocks look set for a rough start Wednesday as big earnings misses from Intel and Yahoo!, as well as rising oil prices, could derail the market's nascent 2006 rally.

The news from the two U.S. tech giants, as well as an investigation into Japanese Internet company Livedoor, helped spark a selloff in markets around the world, with Tokyo shares tumbling 3 percent and European stocks slumping in early trading.

The Tokyo exchange halted trading 20 minutes early due to a flood of sell orders.

Back at home, S&P and Nasdaq futures tumbled, pointing to a big drop when trading begins in about three hours. Whether the U.S. market can right itself later Wednesday as the trading day wears on remains to be seen.

The stock market rallied smartly in the first seven sessions of the new year, but it has pulled back in recent days.

London market watchers said the Nasdaq could slide about 34 points when the market opens, or nearly 1.5 percent, while the Dow was seen off nearly 100 points, or about 1 percent, according to Reuters.

"It's always negative if we start with some bad (U.S.) earnings surprises. The fear is we'll have a very shaky earning season and I think that's quite probable," the news agency quoted Thomas Radinger, a senior fund manager at Activest in Munich, as saying.

After the market closed Tuesday, Intel and Yahoo! reported earnings that missed analysts' forecasts.

Intel (Research) also issued disappointing guidance for the first quarter and said it would no longer issue mid-quarter updates -- news that sent the stock tumbling in after-hours trading. The stock was off about 9 percent in European trading in Frankfurt on Wednesday morning.

The world's No. 1 chip manufacturer cited weakness in the market for chips for desktop computers.

Yahoo! (Research) also missed fourth-quarter forecasts and issued lower-than-expected sales guidance, painting a bleak picture for the tech industry. The stock sank about 11 percent in Frankfurt. (More U.S. stocks traded in Frankfurt.)

IBM (Research) reported earnings that topped forecasts, but sales came in below Wall Street's expectations.

On the economic front, consumer prices posted a small unexpected decline in December, the Labor Department reported. The core rate of inflation, excluding often-volatile food and energy prices, rose modestly, in line with Wall Street forecasts. (Full story).

The earnings season is in full swing, with Apple Computer Inc (Research). and eBay Inc. (Research) due to report later.

JPMorgan Chase reported before the open, saying fourth-quarter earnings rose as investment banking profits offset weaker trading revenue and losses from a surge in bankruptcy filings. The results topped forecasts on Wall Street. (Full story).

Elsewhere, oil prices rose back near $67 a barrel on worries over threats of attacks by rebels in Nigeria against oil facilities in the world's No. 8 exporter.

The February light crude futures contract climbed 44 cents to $66.75 a barrel in electronic trading, while the March contract for Brent crude gained 36 cents to $65.26.

Treasury prices rose as investors sought safety, lowering the yield on the 10-year note to 4.32 percent from 4.33 late Tuesday. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.

The dollar was little changed against the euro and fell slightly against the yen.

Fortune: Why you shouldn't worry about today's market crunch.

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