NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Despite oil prices below $71 a barrel for the first time in months and strong results from a tech bellwether, stocks may be ready to sell off Thursday after a three-day rally.

At 8:25 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures pointed to a flat to lower open for the major indexes.

Oil was sharply lower as the cease-fire was holding in Lebanon, calming geopolitical concerns in that crucial region. U.S. light crude down $1.17 to $70.72 a barrel in electronic trading. Brent crude in London was $1.15 lower at $71.68.

After the close Wednesday, Hewlett Packard (Charts) reported better than expected earnings and announced plans for a $6 billion share repurchase. Shares of the Dow component gained $2.11, or 6.1 percent, in after-hours trading following the report.

After the close Thursday, HP competitor Dell (Charts) is due to report results. Unlike the gains at HP, Dell warned last month that it would report lower earnings in the quarter, as it blamed aggressive pricing in a slowing commercial market worldwide. Investors will be looking for new guidance and details about its costly recall of laptop batteries announced this week.

Shares of Dell slipped 3 cents in after-hours trading following the HP report.

Earnings are due from retailers Sears Holdings (Charts) before the market open and Gap (Charts) and Nordstrom (Charts) after the market close Thursday. Sears and Nordstrom are expected to report healthy earnings gains of more than 20 percent, but profit is expected to drop by more than half at Gap.

Treasury prices rose, with the 10-year note yield down to 4.85 percent from 4.86 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.

Major stock indexes in Asia closed mixed in Thursday trading, while stocks also were mixed in early trading in Europe.

In corporate news, shares of General Motors (Charts) were lower in Frankfurt trading Thursday. The company's No. 2 shareholder, Capital Research & Management, disclosed after Wednesday's close that it had sold 24 percent of its GM stake during the second quarter, while the company's No. 3 shareholder, Brandes Investment Partners, trimmed its GM stake by 4 percent in the period.

GM was in talks into the night Wednesday with the United Auto Workers and bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi as it sought to reach a labor deal to avoid a potentially crippling strike at Delphi.

Delphi is due to appear in bankruptcy court Thursday afternoon to ask for a judge to void its labor contracts if a deal is not reached.

More news and information on markets ahead of the U.S. open.