Stocks head for slightly higher open ahead of GDP report, Bernanke assessment of economy

Stocks head for slightly higher opening before GDP

NEW YORK — Stocks headed for a slightly higher opening Friday as investors waited for two readings on the economy.

The first reading is numerical: the Commerce Department’s latest estimate of the economy’s growth from April through June, as measured by the gross domestic product. Economists forecast that GDP rose at a very modest annual rate of 1.4 percent, down from an initial estimate of 2.4 percent a month ago.

The second assessment was expected in a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Investors will want to hear not only Bernanke’s view of the economy, but also what options he thinks the Fed still has to help the recovery regain momentum. It’s widely believed, however, that the Fed has little room to maneuver as interest rates remain near zero.

Stock index futures, which tend to forecast the opening of trading, are higher. Dow Jones industrial futures are up 30, or 0.3 percent, at 9,997. Standard & Poor’s 500 futures are up 3.80, or 0.4 percent, at 1,048.70. And Nasdaq 100 futures are up 8.5, or 0.5 percent, at 1,776.0.

The Dow closed below 10,000 Thursday, the first time since early July that it finished under that milestone. Investors have been generally pessimistic about the economy, but price moves have also been skewed by the fact that many traders are on vacation. So it’s hard to find any significance in the market’s expected tick upward Friday.

In corporate news, 3Par said it’s accepting Dell Inc.’s new acquisition offer of $1.8 billion. Dell matched a bid from Hewlett-Packard Co.

Tiffany & Co. offered an upbeat view of the slice of the economy it serves: upscale shoppers. The luxury jeweler raised its earnings outlook for the year. The company’s second-quarter earnings beat analyst expectations, but its revenue fell short of forecasts.

Interest rates rose in the Treasury market as investors seemed to be more interested in buying stocks. The yield on the government’s 10-year note, which moves in the opposite direction from its price, rose to 2.5 percent from 2.48 percent late Thursday. The yield is often used to help set rates on consumer loans including mortgages.

In afternoon trading in Europe, London’s FTSE-100 index rose 0.2 percent. Germany’s DAX index rose 0.1 percent and the CAC-40 index in Paris rose 0.1 percent. Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 1 percent.