* U.S. stock futures point to a mixed opening on Wall Street on Wednesday as mounting fears over the profit picture eclipse signs that the credit crisis is easing, but forecast-beating earnings from Apple (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Yahoo's YHOO.L plans to cut jobs could lift tech shares. * By 0809 GMT, S&P 500 futures SPc1 were down 0.8 percent, Dow Jones futures DJc1 down 0.4 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures NDc1 up 0.6 percent. * Investors awaited quarterly results from bellwether companies such as ConocoPhillips (COP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), McDonald's (MCD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Amazon.com (AMZN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Wachovia (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), looking for clues on the extent of the damage from the credit crisis on the real economy. * European stocks were down around 2 percent, with heavyweight mining and energy firms knocked lower by a selloff in commodity prices amid rising fears of a global recession. * Mining firm BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) warned on Wednesday that Chinese demand was set to weaken. "China has not been immune to the global slowdown," the world's biggest mining house said. The warning follows a series of similar comments from major miners. * U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 fell $3 a barrel to just above $69 on Wednesday on rising worries that output cuts by producer group OPEC will not be enough to offset weakening energy demand in leading consumers. * Japan's Nikkei average slid 6.8 percent to its lowest close in a week, battered down as Sony Corp (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and other exporters fell after the yen rose against the euro and worries about the global economy deepened. * Gary Stern, a top U.S. Federal Reserve policy-maker, said on Tuesday the current U.S. economic downturn could be worse than the 1990-91 recession, with growth restrained for as long as one to three years. * Apple Inc reported a stronger-than-expected 26 percent rise in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of its new iPhone, and its shares rose 13 percent after the bell on Tuesday. * Yahoo Inc posted sharply lower quarterly profit on nearly flat sales, but its shares rose 8 percent after the bell on the Internet media company's plan to cut at least 10 percent of its workforce to save costs. * General Motors (GM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is looking for a large investment from outside investors as a possible alternative to a deal with Chrysler LLC, the Financial Times reported on its website. The hoped-for capital injection would be similar to recent investments by billionaire investor Warren Buffett in General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the paper said. * U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday, as commodity-related shares sank on fears of a global recession and a flurry of disappointing earnings heightened worries about the deteriorating profit outlook. (Reporting by Blaise Robinson; Editing by Quentin Bryar)

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