A Mixed-Up Market Set to Open Higher

Stocks are pumped for strength at the open this morning and futures have been steadily gaining ground all morning.

At 7:48 a.m. EDT, the S&P 500 futures were up 2.8 points, almost 8 points above fair value and an indication of a higher open. The Nasdaq 100 futures were 28.8 points, indicating some healthy buying sentiment for large-cap tech stocks in the early going.

Good news for Lucent(LU) could give tech a boost today, after the Nasdaq Composite Index took a bit of a beating yesterday. The Nasdaq was Wednesday's big loser, closing down 53.65, or 1.39%, to 3797.41. In contrast, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 66.11, to 0.62%, to 10,687.95. The S&P 500 gained just 1.10, or 0.07%, to 1470.54.

Lucent announced it is spinning off its microelectronics unit, in a deal analysts say could be worth more than $50 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. The company has also been chosen as the primary supplier of network infrastructure for privately held Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest wireless operator.

Meanwhile, data watching will continue to be a popular sport on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's June 28 meeting, and while this week's biggest numbers are already out, today the market will get a gander at weekly initial jobless claims and May industrial production .

At 8:30 a.m. EDT, the Labor Department will release initial jobless claims for the week ended June 10. According to Reuters consensus estimates, jobless claims for this week are forecast to come in at 292,000 vs. 309,000 the previous week. The four-week average is currently at 290,250.

Then at 9:15 a.m. EDT, the Federal Reserve will release industrial production figures, which are forecast to roll in substantially cooler than last month, at a 0.3% drop, vs. a 0.9% gain in April. Capacity utilization, meanwhile, is seen coming in at 81.6% vs. 82.1%.

If either of these numbers yields a hotter-than-expected surprise, it could send shock waves through the market.

After weeks of cool data, including a friendly Consumer Price Index yesterday, the market is relatively convinced that the Fed is going to hold off on interest rates this month. But there are still some bears out there who say that one month of data doesn't mean a thing, and ask whether recent signs of a slowdown are really indicate enough of a slowdown.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the fence, fears that corporate earnings will suffer as a result of a slowing economy have put a damper on some investing, as earnings warnings continue. But warnings are normal at this stage of the quarter, and many strategists still expect this quarter's earnings to be very strong.

For more on the Fed's interest rate plans and this quarter's corporate earnings see these recent stories.

Another thing weighing on stocks is Friday's futures and options expiration, which could inject a little volatility into the market as institutions begin to roll over their contracts. The September contract started trading last Thursday.

The Treasury market was shedding strength this morning after yesterday's heady rally on the cool CPI. The 10-year note was down 5/32 at 103 3/32 and yielding 6.071%.

European markets were trading lower in tight ranges at midsession.

The Paris CAC was 45.98 lower, or 0.70%, to 6562.12, while Frankfurt's Xetra Dax was down 15.55, or 0.21%, to 7335.39.

London's FTSE was down 12.2, or 0.19%. to 6524.1.

The euro was lately trading back down at $0.9526.

Asian markets were mixed overnight, mostly responding to domestic issues after a cool U.S. CPI further alleviated interest rate worries.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 223.27 points, or 1.4%, to 16,080.34 as the market talked up the possibility of a revival in the territory's real estate prices, which have fallen 50% since 1997.

South Korea's Kospi index tumbled 48.32, or 5.9%, to 770.95 as foreign investors dumped construction shares amassed before the start of the landmark North Korea-South Korea summit. The summit closed yesterday with plans for reunification but few near-term economic consequences.

The break-up of a major three-way bank merger dampened sentiment in Tokyo today, and the Nikkei 225 index fell 315.72 points, or 1.9%, to 16,338.70.

The greenback fell slightly to fetch 106.51 yen in listless trading. It had continued slipping in European trade, recently fetching 106.18 yen.

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For a look at stocks in the preopen news, see Stocks to Watch, published separately.

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