Stock futures mixed; Texas Instruments eyed
Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.39 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.26 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.36 percent at 0945 GMT.
Texas Instruments Inc will be in focus after the company said second-quarter earnings and revenue would be at the high end of its previous estimates, citing strong broad-based demand for its chips, particularly from industrial customers.
Shares of Texas Instruments traded in Frankfurt were up 3.1 percent.
Investors awaited the Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony before the U.S. House Budget Committee, due at 1400 GMT.
European shares were flat in morning trade following a three-day slide, while oil major BP dropped 4.7 percent as traders cited concerns over its dividend.
News of robust economic data from China helped reassure investors and sparked gains in Chinese stocks. Sources told Reuters on Wednesday Chinese exports in May grew about 50 percent from a year earlier, a figure that blew past expectations.
Oil rose 1 percent, while the euro gained some stability on Wednesday on options demand, holding above a recent four-year low versus the dollar.
U.S. healthcare software company Allscripts said on Wednesday it was to buy rival Eclipsys in a $1.3 billion all-share deal to create a leader in electronic healthcare records.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc may be looking at new legal headache, as settlement talks with an Australian hedge fund that invested $100 million in a now toxic mortgage-linked security appear to be breaking down, a source said.
Lawyers working for the Basis Yield Alpha Fund could file a lawsuit against Goldman over the transaction -- called Timberwolf -- as early as Wednesday, said a person familiar with the situation.
Sprint Nextel Corp said on Tuesday it had inadvertently overstated the launch day sales of the much anticipated EVO 4G phone from HTC Corp <2498.TW>, which is touted as a serious competitor to Apple's iPhone 4.
Ambac Financial Group Inc , the bond insurer whose toxic assets were seized by Wisconsin state regulators in March, said it could default on its loan obligations and was still considering filing a prepackaged bankruptcy.
U.S. stocks mostly rose in volatile trading on Tuesday, led by materials and financial shares, but investors shied away from big-cap technology shares on concerns about their European exposure.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 123.49 points, or 1.26 percent, to 9,939.98. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> rose 11.53 points, or 1.10 percent, to 1,062.00. But the Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> dropped 3.33 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,170.57.
(Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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