Intel advances after third-quarter report; Bernanke speech to come By Steve Goldstein & Kate Gibson, MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stock futures pointed to another sharp opening fall on Wednesday after economic data proved generally dismal, erasing optimism on better-than-forecast results from the Coca-Cola Co., Intel Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase. "Retail sales were worse than expected, core PPI was hotter than forecast, and the Empire State Index outcome was fairly ugly," said analysts at Action Economics. Already lower, stock index futures added to their losses as data was released showing a second month of declines in U.S. producer prices, while a hike in the core rate, which excludes food and energy. Read Economic Report. Other data for September showed U.S. retail sales tumbling and a measure of manufacturing activity in the New York region falling. Still to come is a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said late Tuesday that the U.S. economy appears to be in recession. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 216 points at 9,146. Those for the S&P 500 were down 26.9 points at 975.40, while Nasdaq 100 futures shed 21.75 points to stand at 1,344.25. The dollar fell vs. the Japanese yen, down 0.7% to 101.48 yen while oil futures fell $1.98 to $76.65 a barrel. U.S. stocks closed another volatile session on Tuesday in mild retreat as the U.S. banking system was partially nationalized, with the technology sector fronting the declines. There were a number of earnings reports, particularly in the banking sector. J.P. Morgan Chase reported an 85% profit drop and Coca-Cola ncreased its profit by 14%, both of which were better than analysts had expected. Coke shares rose 5% in pre-market trade, while J.P. Morgan turned 2% weaker. Intel rose in pre-market moves after it said its third-quarter profit rose 12% and gave a cautious outlook on the fourth quarter. "We do expect the shares to bounce on these better-than-feared results/guidance," said John Barton, an analyst at Cowen & Co. "We continue to believe, however, that a sustainable rally is not likely until investors can better estimate the magnitude of any post-holiday inventory overhang." Both Apple and International Business Machines were upgraded to overweight by J.P. Morgan, which also cut Dell to neutral. Overseas, the FTSE 100 fell sharply in London, dropping 3.1% as mining giant Rio Tinto said it slow its capital spending plans. Asia stocks were generally lower, with the Hang Seng losing over 5%, but the Nikkei 225 ended 1.1% higher in Tokyo.

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