Wall St seen opening up on lower oil, mortgages

Stocks headed for a higher open on Tuesday as a drop in oil prices and mortgage rates buoyed sentiment as did positive broker actions on bellwethers including Hewlett-Packard.
Shares of HP, a Dow component, rose 1.4% before the bell after a brokerage raised its rating and price target on the computer maker.
McDonald's, another Dow component, was also poised to be among standouts, up 1.6% after posting August same-store sales that beat some analysts' expectations.
A rise on Wall Street would add to Monday's gains that were spurred by the bailing out of embattled home finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government bailout triggered a drop in U.S. mortgage rates, which analysts said would help boost demand for homes.
Even so, there was likely to be caution after uncertainty over the global economy drove an overnight sell-off in Asia. Additionally, there might temptation to lock in profits after Monday's gains and lower oil prices were set to drag on shares of energy companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp.
Investors also await a report on U.S. July pending home sales, due at 10 a.m. EDT.
U.S. front-month crude oil fell $2.20 to $104.16 a barrel as the dollar rallied to a one-year peak against a basket of other currencies.
Declining oil prices are a boon for both consumers and businesses as they help lower energy costs, helping ease strains on spending, a key driver of corporate profits.
"If you combine lower oil prices with the fact that mortgage rates are coming down, gas prices are lowering, that's better for the consumer," said Matt McCall, president of Penn Financial Group based in Denver, Colorado.
S&P 500 futures jumped 4.10 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 31 points and Nasdaq 100 climbed 6.75 points.
HP was raised to "outperform" from "market perform" at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co, which also raised its price target on the stock to $55 from $51. HP shares rose to $46.40 before the bell, while shares of McDonald's, the world's largest restaurant chain, rose to $63.39.
Exxon Mobil shares were off nearly 1% at $76.11 in pre-market trade. Lehman Brothers is also among stocks to watch after Fortune magazine's website said the investment bank is set to hold a conference call on September 18 to discuss third-quarter earnings and "key strategic initiatives."
Lehman shares were down 4.2% at $13.55 before the bell.
U.S. stocks rose on Monday as investors bet Washington's bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would stabilize the U.S. housing sector and calm jittery world financial markets.