Bulls to continue year-end run

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks looked poised to follow overseas markets sharply higher at the start of trading Wednesday as the end-of-the year rally shows no sign of ending early.

Stock futures, which predict the direction of U.S. markets at the open, were sharply higher in early trading after several markets in Asia closed at record highs. Major markets in Europe also were up as traders there returned after the four-day market holiday.

Shares of Toyota (Charts) rose in Tokyo trading after reports that Chairman Fujio Cho met last week with Ford Motor (Charts) CEO Alan Mulally about a possible partnership that could lower research and development costs and the price of auto parts for the competitors.

Shares of Ford gained nearly 1 percent in New York trading after the early-afternoon report Tuesday.

U.S. stocks closed solidly higher Tuesday as oil prices posted a sharp decline. Oil was little changed in early trading Wednesday after that sell-off.

U.S. light, sweet crude slipped 4 cents to $61.06 a barrel in electronic trade. Brent crude gained 24 cents to $61.34 a barrel.

The U.S. fuel inventory report, typically released Wednesday, is delayed a day this week due to the Christmas holiday.

The New York Stock Exchange announced it would observe two minutes of silence at the start of trading Wednesday in memory of former president Gerald Ford, who died Tuesday evening at age 93. The markets traditionally close the day of the funeral of a president or former president. Those plans were yet to be announced early Wednesday.

At 10 a.m. investors will get the government's latest reading on new home sales. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are forecasting a slight rebound to an annual pace of 1.02 million from just over the 1 million pace in October. But that sales pace could still leave the market with a glut of homes on the market, which could keep downward pressure on prices.

In corporate news, newspaper publisher McClatchy (Charts) agreed to sell the Minneapolis Star Tribune to private equity group Avista Capital Partners for $530 million, or less than half of what it paid for the newspaper in 1998.

UnitedHealth Group (Charts), which has shaken up its executive ranks because of questions about how stock options were awarded, said after the close Tuesday that the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a formal investigation into its options practices.

Federal investigators are looking at stock option administration documents at Apple Computer (Charts) that were apparently falsified by company officials, according to a report by The Recorder, published by legal news Web site Law.com. CEO Steve Jobs has hired his own attorneys apart from the company legal team to deal with the probe, according to the report.

Shares of Apple were down 3.4 percent in heavy Frankfurt trading.

Treasury prices were little changed, leaving the yield on the 10-year note near the 4.6 percent level reached late Tuesday. The dollar was lower against the euro and the yen.

More market news and futures ahead of the U.S. open