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Empresas y finanzas

Stock futures point to higher open on Wall Street


    LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open for Wall Street on Wednesday, boosted by growing expectations of further quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and an upbeat forecast from technology firm Intel .

    By 0850 GMT, futures for the S&P 500, Nasdaq futures and Dow Jones futures were up 0.6 to 0.7 percent.

    Intel Corp forecast upbeat fourth-quarter sales and margins as resilient demand from emerging markets and corporations offset weak consumer spending, raising hopes that the technology sector could end 2010 on a strong note.

    Intel shares rose 1.7 percent after the bell following its results.

    U.S. stocks hit fresh 5-month highs on Tuesday and the dollar came under pressure as details from the Fed's latest meeting showed the U.S. central bank may once again flood markets with cheap cash "before long" to further boost growth.

    Minutes of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting in September revealed officials thought the struggling recovery might soon need more help and they discussed several ways to provide it, including possible adoption of a price-level target.

    Quarterly results due later in the session from JPMorgan , the second largest U.S. bank, is likely to set the tone for the earnings season.

    Analysts expect the bank to report an anemic 1.3 percent increase in profit over the same period last year and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.90.

    Other companies to report earnings include Apollo Group and Host Hotels & Resorts .

    Oil majors were expected to be in focus as crude prices rose above $82 helped by a weaker dollar and after China's crude imports jumped last month.

    In company news, Chevron Corp said its third-quarter earnings are expected to be lower than the previous quarter, weighed down by a drop in U.S. production, higher costs and the effects of a weaker dollar. Its shares fell 0.9 in after-hours trading.

    A venture of Blackstone Group LP and other private investors has bought $300 million of debt in 14 hotels that Blackstone had sold to Columbia Sussex for $1.4 billion in 2006, according to a report on the Wall Street Journal Website on Tuesday.

    Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea , the operator of A&P supermarkets, is in talks with advisors about potentially restructuring its balance sheet, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

    In Europe, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 1 percent at 1,082.27 points by 0850 GMT, with technology shares among the largest gainers.

    (Reporting by Harpreet Bhal; Editing by Hans Peters)