Stock Futures Point to Early Losses

Stocks in New York were bracing for a decline at the open for both blue chips and tech shares amid persisting worries about the price of energy.

S&P 500 futures were losing 9 points to 1354 and were nearly 8 points below fair value. Futures on the Nasdaq 100 were sinking 18 points at 1970 and were roughly 11 points under fair value.

Last time out, stocks managed a mixed close as rising energy shares mitigated broader pain, but breadth remained solidly negative, nonetheless. At the end of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 71 points to 12,280, and the S&P 500- added a point to 1362. The Nasdaq Composite lost 15 points to 2459.

As the new day began, traders were dealing with remarks from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who took a more hawkish view on inflation during a speech.

The Fed chief said the jump in oil prices "has added to the upside risks for inflation and inflation expectations," even as his expectations for a "substantial downturn" have simultaneously diminished. He added that the Fed "will strongly resist an erosion of longer-term inflation expectations, as an unanchoring of those expectations would be destabilizing for growth as well as for inflation."

That would appear, once again, to suggest that the Fed won't cut interest rates again following its 325-point easing campaign over the past few months. Some experts have even projected that the Fed could even hike rates in the not-too-distant future amid the inflationary worries.

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