Stocks headed for higher open
Investors brace for slew of corporate results and Fed chief Bernanke's testimony.
Why Louisville, CO is No. 1NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks were poised for a higher open Tuesday as investors considered another wave of corporate results and prepared for testimony from Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke.
At 7:40 a.m. ET, the S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq 100 futures were higher.
Futures measure current index values against their perceived future performance.
Peter Cardillo, chief market economist for Avalon Partners, said that markets are in a "wait-and-see" mode regarding upcoming earnings and Bernanke's "exit strategy," which he outlined in a Wall Street Journal guest column.
"The market needs more reason to rally, but the rally is not over with," said Cardillo.
Earnings: Wall Street rallied Monday, lifted by optimism about corporate profits for the second quarter.
Several companies are on tap to post financial results Tuesday, including Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500), Coca-Cola (KO, Fortune 500) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500).
Drugmakers Merck and the soon-to-be-acquired Schering-Plough announced second-quarter earnings before the bell. Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) reported earnings per share of 74 cents excluding charges, a decline from 82 cents in the year-earlier quarter, and short of the 77 cents that was expected by Thomson Reuters.
Schering (SGP, Fortune 500) reported 46 cents earnings per share excluding charges, which was close to estimates, and up slightly from 45 cents in the year-ago quarter.
Texas Instruments (TXN, Fortune 500) reported a quarterly profit late Monday that exceeded Wall Street's forecasts, although the chipmaker gave a wary outlook.
Economy: Investors will be keeping an eye on comments from Bernanke, who heads to Capitol Hill to testify on monetary policy and the economy.
In his column, Bernanke acknowledged the benefits of having lowered the interest rate target for overnight bank lending "nearly to zero" to soften the recession.
"At some point, however, as economic recovery takes hold, we will need to tighten monetary policy to prevent the emergence of an inflation problem down the road," he wrote.
CIT: Investors are also watching troubled small business lender CIT (CIT, Fortune 500), which confirmed late Monday that bondholders had extended financing that will keep it afloat.
But investors remain uncertain about how long the relief will last as the company faces a difficult restructuring.
Global markets: Asian stocks rose, with Tokyo's Nikkei finishing the session nearly 3% higher. Major European markets edged higher in midday trading.
Oil and money: The price of oil rose 22 cents a barrel to $64.20. The dollar rose against major international currencies, including the euro, yen and British pound.
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