H-P, Yahoo! Lift Stock Futures Off Lows

Updated from 6:47 a.m. EST

Premarket futures were indicating a slightly lower open for Wall Street, but the situation had improved from the early lows after traders received encouraging news from several big technology companies.

Futures for the S&P 500 were down 7.9 points at 843 and were 6.7 points short of fair value. Nasdaq futures were lower by 5.3 points at 1153 but were half a point above fair value.

Two pieces of news in particular helped lift futures, particularly on the technology side, off their worst levels of the day. Computer hardware and software maker Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote) was partly responsible, after the company said its fourth-quarter profit would exceed analysts' expectations. Shares of H-P, part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, were rising in the premarket.

Another boost came from Yahoo! (YHOO Quote), which said CEO Jerry Yang is set to step down from his position as soon as the Internet firm can find a replacement. Yang's tenure was recently marked by a refusal to sell his company to Microsoft (MSFT Quote). Yahoo! shares were rising in early action.

On Monday, trading in stocks was choppy before the major averages fell sharply in the final minutes of the session. Weak earnings statements from retailers and reports of massive layoffs from JPMorgan Chase (JPM Quote) and Citigroup (C Quote) added to the selling pressure.

Financials continued to look weak as the new session arrived. Asset manager BlackRock (BLK Quote) joined the set of companies to announce layoffs by announcing its first round of job cuts in its 20-year history, according to a report by Bloomberg.