NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Tech stocks could face rough going in early trading Thursday after an earnings and revenue warning from Adobe Systems, as other investors look ahead to the latest reading on real estate market strength.

U.S. stock futures were down, indicating a lower open for U.S. markets, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq futures especially weak.

Adobe (Research) issued earnings late Wednesday that topped forecasts, but the maker of graphics software said profit and revenue in the current period could fall short of forecasts. Shares of Adobe lost nearly 4 percent in after-hours trading and some other tech stocks were also lower.

Michael Carty, stock market strategist at New Millennium Advisors, said he thought that the Adobe warning was probably enough to send stocks lower in the early going after gains in the markets Wednesday took the Dow close to new five-year highs.

"I suspect we came a little too far a little too fast yesterday," he said. He thinks that stock investors will be nervous until after next week's meeting of the Federal Reserve signals what the central bank intends to do at future meetings. The meeting will be the first with Ben Bernanke as chairman.

"What they're concerned about is how Bernanke will state the case (for higher rates)," said Carty.

At 10 a.m. ET the National Association of Realtors issues its report on February existing home sales. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com see sales slipping to an annual pace of 6.5 million, down from 6.6 million in January.

Builder KB Home (Research) reported better-than-expected earnings after the market close Wednesday and reaffirmed its guidance for 2006 results, which lifted the stock nearly 2 percent in after-market trading.

Oil prices rebounded after slipping Wednesday following the U.S. fuel inventory report. The May light crude futures contract for NYMEX gained 25 cents to $62.02 a barrel in electronic trading, while the May contract for Brent crude gained 12 cents to $61.62.

Major markets in Asia closed mixed Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei little changed. Major European markets also were mixed in early trading.

Treasury prices were higher, cutting the yield on the benchmark 10-year note at 4.69 percent from 4.70 percent late Thursday. The dollar was higher against the euro but lower against the yen.

In other corporate news, Dell (Research) announced plans to purchase boutique PC maker Alienware for undisclosed terms, a move that gives it better access to the high-end gaming PC market.

The Alienware deal allows Advanced Micro Devices (Research) to gain access to Dell, which has used only Intel (Research) chips in the past. Shares of AMD were up 2.5 percent in after-hours trading while Dell was little changed. Intel shares were up nearly 1 percent in Frankfurt trading Friday.

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