Stocks headed for a slightly higher open

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks were headed for a slightly higher open Wednesday, as investors digested a report showing tame wholesale inflation and latest batch of corporate earnings.

Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) and S&P 500 (SPX) futures were up about 0.3%, while Nasdaq (COMP) futures were flat ahead of the opening bell. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy spoke about Europe's ongoing money troubles, but offered little in the way of action.

The pullback, which briefly sent the Dow down nearly 190 points Tuesday, came after three straight sessions of healthy gains.

Economy: The Labor Department's Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale inflation, rose 0.2% in July.

Economists were expecting July PPI to come in flat, after being down 0.4% in June.

Core PPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, jumped 0.4% last month -- slightly more than expected. The core index also rose 0.4% in June.

Companies: Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) shares fell more than 6% in premarket trading. Late Tuesday, the No. 2 PC seller cut its sales growth forecast for the remainder of fiscal 2012, due to "a more uncertain demand environment." Dell said it expects sales to rise been 1% and 5%, down from the previous range of growth between 5% and 9%.

Shares of No. 1 PC maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, Fortune 500), which reports earnings results Thursday, were also under pressure Wednesday -- falling almost 2% in premarkets.

Staple's (SPLS, Fortune 500) stock spiked more than 10%, after the office supply chain reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales, and raised its outlook for the year.

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) rose 1.8% in early trading, after the company beat earnings and sales estimates. Late Tuesday, the clothing retailer said it would offer "substantial payment" to MTV's "The Jersey Shore"'s cast members to stop wearing the brand on air.

Shares of Deere (DE, Fortune 500) rose 1%, after the farm equipment maker topped earnings and sales estimates, and improved its earnings guidance for the year on the back of higher global demand.

Target (TGT, Fortune 500)'s stock jumped 4.6%, after the discount retailer posted earnings ahead of forecast, and delivered an outlook for the current quarter and year that were slightly above consensus estimates.

World markets: European stocks eased in midday trading. Britain's FTSE (FTSE) 100 fell 0.7%, the DAX (DAX) in Germany dropped more than 1%, and France's CAC (CAC) 40 edged down 0.2%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.3% and Japan's Nikkei fell 0.6%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.4%.

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

Oil for September delivery gained 87 cents to $87.52 a barrel.

Gold futures for December delivery rose $8.60 to $1,793.60 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury rose, pushing the yield down to 2.22%.