U.S. stock futures were higher Wednesday morning, as Wall Street could try to having yet another positive session. While Starbucks news of store closing and reports Microsoft may still be interested in Yahoo helped lift sentiment, UnitedHealth already issued a warning this morning. Employment data is also on tap before the market opens.U.S. stocks finally ended higher on Tuesday. Surprisingly, it was car sales that helped the mood on the Street as as June sales came in not as bad as expected. The Dow industrials ended 32 points higher, or 0.28%, the S&P 500 added 4 points, or 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 11 points, or 0.52%.
Today, investors will have the ADP June private sector employment figures to chew on ahead of the government's report tomorrow. The employment report is expected to be released at 8:15 a.m. EDT. Then, at 10 a.m., May factory orders are due out.
Also on the docket today is weekly crude inventories, usually released at 10:30 a.m. EDT. While oil came off highs Tuesday due to a slightly stronger dollar, it again rose above $141 a barrel Wednesday, due to persistent supply concerns that has analysts warning of higher prices yet. An IEA report saying supplies will remain tight and demand will likely grow despite higher prices helped push prices higher.
In corporate news, Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI) said Tuesday it is withdrawing its proposal to buy Cicuit City Stores Inc. (NYSE: CC). BBI shares are 13% higher in premarket trading, CC's 7.8% lower.
UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) cut its 2008 financial outlook as it felt the impact of changing business trends during the second quarter.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) turned to other media companies such as Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) to join forces in buying Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO). Apparently, Microsoft want Yahoo's search business, but could do without its content portal business, which another company could pick up. YHOO shares are up nearly 5.5% in premarket trading.
Finally, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) said it plans to close 600 stores, or about 8.5% of its total stores. While the turnaround strategy still has to prove itself, SBUX stock has been trading over 6.6% in premarket action on the news.
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