U.S. Stocks Set For Opening Slide; Texas Instruments A Factor

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks on Wednesday were poised for a lower start after Texas Instruments Inc., the world's biggest maker of cell-phone chips, trimmed its projected sales for the third quarter, and investors stepped back from the prior day's ride higher.

"We had a pretty explosive rally yesterday, and the day after we tend to gather our thoughts and say, well Texas Instruments, that is not good for tech and telecom," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at Jefferies & Co.

Dow industrial futures fell 21 points at 13,300.

S&P 500 futures slipped 4.4 points at 1,468.40 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 8 points at 1,985.50.

Shares of Dow component Exxon Mobil Corp. fell in electronic trading ahead of the open after the International Energy Agency cut its outlook for global oil demand.

The IEA made a modest downward revision to oil demand forecasts on Wednesday, saying it doesn't know how the turmoil from the U.S. subprime mortgage market will affect demand.

Texas Instruments late Tuesday tightened its financial targets for the third quarter.

The Nikkei 225 closed 0.5% lower after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would resign following cabinet scandals and a low approval rating.

The dollar sank to a record low against the euro amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve would cut U.S. interest rates. .

Shares likely to be active include Amgen and Johnson & Johnson after an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration did not support a limit on the use of anemia drugs the companies produce.

Pathmark Stores Inc. reported its fiscal second-quarter net loss widened to $18.8 million from $8.8 million one year earlier.

Shares of Apache Corp. were likely to be active after the oil and gas producer's upgrade to buy from neutral by Goldman Sachs.

Chip-equipment maker ASML Holdings was upgraded to outperform from underperform by Credit Suisse.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery edged down 30 cents at $720.80 an ounce. .

By Kate Gibson