Preopen Trading: Futures Trading Higher

Corning(GLW Quote) is trading higher this morning on news it will buy Pirelli's 90% stake in Optical Technologies, a Delaware-based company that makes optical components. Corning was trading at $326.50 on Instinet in preopen action, up from its $325 closing price yesterday.

Cisco (CSCO Quote) owns the other 10% of the company. Cisco was lately trading at $55.75 on Instinet, up from yesterday's $55.19 close.

And after its major tumble yesterday, Eastman Kodak(EK Quote) was making a bit of a comeback this morning. It was recently trading at $45 on Instinet, up from yesterday's $44.50 closing price. The stock lost one-quarter of its value yesterday after it warned that its upcoming quarter's earnings would be lower than previously expected. TheStreet.com took a look at Eastman Kodak's problems in a separate article yesterday.

At 7:21 a.m. EDT, S&P 500 futures were up 6.70 to 1449.70, about 4 points above fair value as calculated by Prudential Securities and indicating some upside for the broad market when it opens. Nasdaq 100 futures were also indicating that investors will be buying tech stocks when the market opens. Fair value is a good gauge of how stocks will trade in early action.

Investors in Europe were also feeling optimistic. Markets were strong at midsession. London's FTSE was up 1.41%. In Paris, the CAC-40 was gaining 0.83%. And Germany's DAX was up 1.17%.

But worries about a slowing economic recovery set Japanese shares back once again Wednesday, with the Nikkei 225 index setting a fresh 18-month low. It fell 1.81% overnight. Other Asian markets were stronger. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 1%, while Korea's Kospi climbed 2%. TheStreet.com wrote a separate story on Wednesday's trading action in Asia.

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For Tuesday's postclose trading, see The Night Watch.