Dow looks for 14,000

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks looked set to extend their record-setting run Tuesday after a key inflation report didn't offer any major surprises.

At 8:30 a.m. ET, futures were higher, with a comparison to fair value pointing to a positive opening for U.S. stocks.

Futures got a boost after the Labor Department released its report on the prices of goods at the wholesale level. The government said wholesale prices fell 0.2 percent in June, versus expectations for a rise of 0.1 percent.

The closely watched core Producer Price Index, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 0.3 percent. That exceeded consensus forecasts for a gain of 0.2 percent, but wasn't enough to rattle investors.

The generally tame report could help drive gains on Wall Street, where the Dow industrials has closed at a record high for the past three straight sessions.

Also helping support sentiment is a set of strong earnings. Coca-Cola (Charts, Fortune 500) reported a rise in quarterly profit early Tuesday, boosted by strength in emerging markets. Johnson & Johnson (Charts, Fortune 500) also posted solid earnings, with its results exceeding Wall Street's estimates.

Investors will have more earnings to digest after the market close, when Intel (Charts, Fortune 500) and Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500) are set to kick off the reporting period for the tech sector.

In major corporate news, Dutch-based chemical company Basell agreed to buy Lyondell Chemical (Charts, Fortune 500) for $48 a share, or about $12.1 billion. Including the assumption of debt, the deal is valued at $19 billion.

The CEO of Dow Jones (Charts) has tentatively agreed to News Corp.'s (Charts, Fortune 500) $5 billion takeover bid, although approval from the Bancroft family is still required, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Oil prices turned higher, nearing an 11-month high. U.S. light crude for August delivery gained 57 cents to $74.72 a barrel in electronic trading.

Treasury prices edged lower, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year note rising to 5.06 percent from 5.04 percent late Monday.

The dollar held near a record low against the euro and was steady against the yen.

In global trade, European stocks fell in morning trade, and Asian markets finished the session little changed.