US stocks head for lower open ahead of pending home sales data

Wall Street headed for a modestly lower open Wednesday, with investors awaiting data on pending home sales and watching oil prices climb further into uncharted territory.

At 10 a.m. EDT, the National Association of Realtors is expected to report that pending sales of existing homes declined in March, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Financial/IFR.

Ahead of that report, the Labor Department said worker productivity, measured by output per hour of work, rose at a higher-than-expected annual rate of 2.2 percent in the first quarter. It also said unit labor costs increased at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, down from a 2.8 percent rise in the previous quarter -- suggesting that inflation pressures may be letting up.

But inflation remains a prime concern on Wall Street, given that oil prices have doubled over the past year to record levels above $122 a barrel on Tuesday. As a result, gasoline prices are also surging further into record terrain, strapping debt-laden U.S. consumers with another financial burden. Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig in a speech late Tuesday cited inflation as his main worry.

The stock market will be closely watching the energy market's reaction Wednesday to the government's weekly report on U.S. fuel inventories. In premarket electronic trading Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures fell 11 cents to $121.73 a barrel after reaching a record $122.73 overnight.

Dow futures fell 24, or 0.18 percent, to 13,004. Standard & Poor's 500 index futures fell 2.70, or 0.19 percent, to 1,418.00, and Nasdaq 100 index futures fell 6.25, or 0.31 percent, to 1,992.75.

(Agencies)