Stocks: Bernanke spooks investors

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were set to open lower Wednesday, as gloomy comments about the economic outlook from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke continue to weigh on investors.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU), S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq (COMP) futures were lower ahead of the opening bell. Futures measure current index values against perceived future performance.

U.S. stocks closed lower Tuesday, after Bernanke dashed hopes that the central bank would provide additional economic stimulus.

"Bernanke did nothing to dissuade fears about slow economic growth," said Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. "And he all but squashed any hope that there would be a revival of the Fed's quantitative easing program."

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Speaking in Atlanta, the Fed chairman acknowledged that economic growth this year has been slower than expected. Twice, he called the job market "far from normal," and conceded that "the economy is still producing at levels well below its potential."

While his comments weren't necessarily a surprise to investors, they simply reaffirmed the dismal economic picture that recent data has signaled.

"It wasn't so much that investors were surprised, it was that [Bernanke] didn't say anything surprisingly good," said Luschini. "While he said the slow growth is transitory and we'll see more growth, he couched that hope by not offering QE3 as an olive branch to investors."

Economy: The Federal Reserve will release its "Beige Book" at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday. The book is a collection of economic anecdotal observations by the Fed's 12 regional banks. It's used by the central banks as part of their decision making regarding interest rates.

Companies: Shares of Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) slipped nearly 1% in premarket trading, after the bank agreed to sell a $1.7 billion portfolio of private equity assets to Axa Private Equity Wednesday.

LDK Solar (LDK) shares fell more than 2% after the company issued a cautious outlook.

Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU, Fortune 500) said late Tuesday it will buy back $1.5 billion in stock by the end of the month, sending shares of the company nearly 1% higher in premarket trading.

Shares of Ford (F, Fortune 500) rose nearly 1% before the market open Wednesday, a day after the auto giant announced plans to boost sales worldwide by 50%.

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Retailer Men's Wearhouse Inc. (MW) will report quarterly earning results after the market close.

Other stocks on the move included eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500), JDS Uniphase (JDSU) and Radiosack (RSH, Fortune 500).

World markets: European stocks slumped in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 1%, the DAX in Germany dropped 1.4% and France's CAC 40 fell 1.1%.

The declines came amid reports that Moody's has determined the U.K.'s credit rating is at risk of being downgraded.

Asian markets ended the session mixed. The Shanghai Composite ticked up 0.2% and Japan's Nikkei added 0.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 0.9%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and the British pound, but slipped versus the Japanese yen.

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Oil for July delivery dipped 63 cents to $98.46 a barrel. OPEC is holding a meeting Wednesday in Vienna, during which the organization is expected to boost oil production.

Gold futures for August delivery fell $10.60 to $1,533.40 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury edged up, pushing the yield down to 2.97% from 2.99% late Tuesday.