U.S. stocks are set to open slightly higher on Wednesday, feeding off comments from the Federal Reserve that it is in no hurry to raise interest rates as the economy gathers momentum. The Fed's decision to keep rates at 46-year lows on Tuesday, and its repeated vow to be "patient" with the economy before raising rates, soothed investors after a string of losses driven by fears of attacks after the Madrid bombings. "We got good reactions in the overseas markets as a result of Greenspan's remarks," said John Person, head financial analyst at Infinity Brokerage Services, referring to the Fed's Chairman Alan Greenspan. "All indexes closed on a positive note, so we may see some follow through buying this morning." U.S. stock futures were trading higher early Wednesday, slightly above fair value, pointing to a higher open. European shares were a little higher on Wednesday, drawing on optimism from the Fed. Stocks in Japan closed at a two-and-a-half-year high as growing optimism over Japan's economic recovery buoyed builders, insurers and other issues dependent on domestic demand.
Markets may move higher on rosy corporate earnings reports and forecasts for the upcoming reporting period. FedEx Corp. , the world's leading air-express group, on Wednesday reported a better-than-expected increase in quarterly earnings, helped by a rising worldwide economy. The U.S. market may also draw strength from solid earnings reports from homebuilders Lennar Corp. and KB Home , said Peter Dunay, chief market strategist at Wall Street Access. Lennar, one of the largest U.S. home builders, reported a 31 percent rise in quarterly net income after the market closed on Tuesday, helped by a rise in demand for houses, particularly in the East and West. KB Home's quarterly profit jumped 40 percent. Investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. plans to report earnings before the market opens. Investors will also be watching a key read on inflation. The government's Consumer Price Index, due at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT), is expected to be up 0.3 percent. The core CPI, the index without its more volatile food and energy items, is expected to be up just 0.1 percent. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones industrials <.DJI> ended up 81.78 points, or 0.81 percent, at 10,184.67. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> was up 3.89 points, or 0.20 percent, at 1,943.09. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.SPX> was up 6.21 points, or 0.56 percent, at 1,110.70.///