LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Wall Street is looking at a higher open on expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates to boost a flagging economy, with investors also mulling restated results from Dell Inc and earnings from Alcatel-Lucent that came in better than expected.
The market is also awaiting a string of economic reports, including a first estimate on how much the economy grew in the third quarter.
According to spread bettors IG Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is expected to open up 31 points at 13,823. Separately, S&P 500 futures climbed 3.80 points to 1,539.80 while Nasdaq 100 futures were up 7.25 points at 2,225.
Yesterday stocks ended lower after a drop in consumer confidence sparked concern about the outlook for the economy, with investors also nervous ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on interest rates.
The Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank's monetary policy body, is widely expected to cut its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 4.5 pct as it focuses on shoring up flagging economic growth.
Some economists though say the vote on a cut may be a closer call than the market thinks after the recent spike in oil prices raised fresh concerns about inflationary pressures in the economy.
The Fed's decision will be announced at 6.15 pm GMT.
Investors have a full plate of economic data to digest ahead of the Fed's interest rate decision.
The release of the ADP employment report, which tracks private-sector hiring, may prove an opportunity for economists to tweak their forecasts for non-farm payrolls growth ahead of the October employment report due on Friday.
The Labor Department is expected to report that the US economy created 85,000 jobs in October after a 110,000 gain in the prior month, according to the median estimate of economists polled by Thomson's IFR Markets.
Meanwhile, gross domestic product data is expected to show the economy grew 3 pct in the third quarter, down from 3.8 pct in the prior quarter.
The latest reading of the Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index will offer a regional snapshot on the health of the nation's manufacturing sector. Construction spending data are also on tap.
On the earnings front, shares in Alcatel-Lucent are likely to move higher, mirroring gains in Europe, after the telecom equipment maker posted an improvement in third-quarter margins, with some analysts also pleased that the company provided guidance on profitability for the first time.
'While Alcatel-Lucent still needs a good Q4 to restore investor's confidence, today's new restructuring plan and medium-term guidance announcement is moving in the right direction,' said Landsbanki Kepler in a note to clients. The broker holds a 'buy' rating on the stock.
Dell shares are set to move higher as hope rose the computer maker is finally putting its financial house in order after it restated earnings for the period 2003-06 and the first quarter of 2007.
The company announced its planned restatement in August, following its internal investigation into accounting and financial reporting matters.
Dell used the restatement to announce that it would also resume its share repurchase program once it reports its results for the third quarter on Nov. 29.
Wynn Resorts should also move higher after the casino company run by billionaire Steve Wynn posted quarterly results that topped analyst estimates.
In the raft of earnings reports due ahead of the bell, Garmin's quarterly results will come under particular scrutiny after the satellite navigation company announced earlier today a 2.3 bln eur takeover offer for Dutch company Tele Atlas.
Kraft Foods, Jones Apparel, MasterCard, Transocean and Constellation Energy are other companies set to report earnings before the market opens.
In other news, shares in Verizon Communications and Sprint Nextel could see gains on a Wall Street Journal report that the telecom operators are in advanced talks to sell phone handsets customized to operate the Internet search company's new mobile-phone operating system.
Outside of equities, oil continued to back off record highs as expectations today's US inventory report will show an increase in crude stocks helped sparked further profit taking.
In addition recovering Mexican output, nervousness ahead of the US Federal Reserve's rate verdict and recent advice from a top bank to take profits weighed on prices.
New York light sweet crude for December delivery was last down 33 cents at 90.05 usd a barrel.
The dollar was just off yet another fresh all-time low against the euro and continued to hit a series of 26-year lows against the pound as markets prepared for tonight's expected cut in US interest rates.
The euro was fractionally higher at 1.4440 after hitting a record high of 1.4466 usd earlier. Against the Japanese yen, the greenback rose 0.4 pct to 115.16 yen.
Gold futures traded slightly lower although the precious metal remained firmly above 780 usd as the dollar hit a fresh record low against the euro, underpinning gold's appeal as an alternative investment to the US currency.
The benchmark December contract was down 2.60 usd at 785.30 usd an ounce.
On the bond market, Treasury prices were little changed ahead of the Fed's rate decision. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note stood at 4.39 pct versus 4.38 pct in late trading yesterday.
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