NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Concerns about oil, especially with Hurricane Rita chugging in the Gulf of Mexico, could keep bulls at bay when U.S. stock markets open for business Wednesday.

Stock futures were lower at about 7:45 a.m. ET. But with fair value taken into account, the early indications were for a mixed open, with Nasdaq pointed to a slightly lower open and the Standard & Poor's 500 pointing to a flat to slightly higher start, with investors tentatively returning following a Tuesday's selloff on the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike.

However, high-priced oil and bullishness may not mix. U.S. light crude for November delivery rose $1.27 to $67.47 as Rita threatened Gulf platforms and refineries. The storm appears headed for the Texas coast as a Category 4, the same magnitude at which Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi last month. Landfall is seen sometime late Friday or early Saturday.

Bill Adams, chief energy and capital market strategist, LaSalle Futures, said that investors will be eyeing both weather reports as well as the weekly U.S. fuel inventoy report due at 10:30 a.m. He said investors were right to worry about the threat that Rita poses to oil platforms and refineries not affected by Katrina.

"If Rita goes into western Louisiana and Texas, it could take out the other half of facility that weren't hit by Katrina," he said. "Overall, that's not good for the equity markets. It's becoming really apparent that we're still an energy-based economy whether we want to be or not, and that's being tested right now."

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after the Fed raised rates for the 11th time since June 2004. The Fed indicated that the economy was still progressing, even considering the disruption caused by Katrina, and that it intends to maintain a measured approach to interest rate hikes as a way to battle inflation.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher, with Tokyo's Nikkei at a 4-year peak. European markets were lower in morning trade. (Check our premarket data page)

Treasury prices rallied, with the 10-year note yield slipping to 4.19 percent from 4.24 percent late Tuesday. The dollar slumped against the yen and euro. Gold touched an 18-year high in European trading before easing.

Among companies making news, Microsoft (Research) overhauled its business divisions Tuesday in an effort to battle companies, particularly Google, seeking to challenge its dominance in software and Web services. Shares of Microsoft fell more than 1 percent in European trading.