U.S. stocks set to open lower

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were set for a lower open Wednesday after a key inflation gauge came in above expectations.

At 8:35 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were lower.

Stock futures lost more ground after a Labor Department report showed core consumer prices, which exclude volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had been expecting just a 0.2 percent gain.

Overall consumer prices rose 0.2 percent, edging above expectations for a 0.1 percent gain.

The report showing a climb in consumer prices comes a day after the Dow Jones industrial average set another closing high and the other major indexes reached their highest level in more than six years.

Oil was down. U.S. light crude fell 49 cents to $58.36 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices were lower, raising the U.S. 10-year note yield to 4.70 percent from 4.67 percent late Tuesday.

In company news, Hewlett-Packard (Charts) reported higher fiscal first-quarter income and revenue that topped analysts' estimates late Tuesday. But shares of the computer maker were down 0.7 percent in Frankfurt trading.

BJ's Wholesale (Charts) said its clubs are recalling packages of fresh mushrooms because of the possible presence of E. coli bacteria.

NovaStar Financial (Charts) shares fell nearly 33 percent in after-hours trading after the subprime mortgage lender reported a fourth-quarter net loss.

Among other stocks in the news early Wednesday: Wal-Mart (Charts), Merck (Charts) and Medtronic (Charts).

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