Shares Up Despite Falling Oil Prices

News at a Glance
Futures Flat: Investors await news from G-8, Alcoa.
Oil slides below $62 as stocks scamble back after open.
Europe Down: Pessimism pushes oil, banks lower.
Asia Lower: Weak oil, metal prices, Japanese economic data drive decline..
The Lowdown
Stocks opened with a mild pop, but it remains a traders' market attuned to negative news and uncertainty.

U.S. markets opened slightly higher ahead of news from the Group of Eight summit in Italy and second-quarter results from Dow component Alcoa (AA: 9.28*, -0.13, -1.38%), which reports after the close, signaling the unofficial start of second-qaurter earnigns season. The Dow Jone Industrial Average rose 38 points to 8183 as of 10:10 a.m. The Nasdaq gained 6 points to 1752 and the S&P 500 opened with a gain of 4 points to 885.

Family Dollar Stores (FDO: 30.54*, +2.79, +10.05%) beat Wall Street earnings estimates for a sharp early rise, news that indicates households remain budget conscious and that a recovery may remain tepid thanks to low consumer spending.

The fate of the dollar as the world's reserve currency is among the subjects world leaders are expected to discuss at the G-8 summit, which will continue despite the departure of Chinese President Hu Jintao. Hu abandoned plans to attend the summit Wednesday after ethnic violence erupted in western China, where ethnic Han Chinese and Uiguhur groups continued their clashes in the Muslim-majority region.

European shares fell as traders showed concern over the prospects for a global economic recovery. Shares of oil producers such as Repsol (REP: 21.09*, -0.36, -1.67%) declined as crude prices slid. Financial firms like Credit Suisse (CS: 42.70*, -0.33, -0.76%) also gave up ground.

Asian stock markets slipped as traders responded to weak oil and metal prices, as well as Tuesday's declines on Wall Street. Negative economic news from Japan also contributed to the downturn. The country's current account surplus fell 34.2% in May from the same month a year ago, and the trade surplus fell 22.1%, according to data released by the Japanese Ministry of Finance Wednesday. Separate data from the Cabinet Office showed core machinery orders fell 3.0% in May from April. Both sets of data suggest the global recession has not waned.

Oil prices continued to decline as pessimism about the economic recovery deepened. By 10:14 a.m., crude had fallen 95 cents to $61.99 on the Nymex.

Corporate News
Google (GOOG: 398.71*, +2.08, +0.52%) is designing a new open-source computer operating system that will be available on netbooks in the second half of 2010, the company announced on its blog Tuesday evening. The Chrome operating system, which will be separate from Google's Android system for cell phones and other smaller devices, is intended to compete with Microsoft's (MSFT: 22.13*, -0.40, -1.77%) Windows.
Alcoa (AA: 9.28*, -0.13, -1.38%) is scheduled to release its second-quarter earnings after the market closes Wednesday. The aluminum producer is expected to post a loss of 38 cents a share, compared to a gain of of 66 cents a share in the same period a year ago. Alcoa is the first Dow component to report, and traders and economists often use the firm's results as an indicator of broader economic health and a harbinger for the rest of earnings season.
Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA: 48.86*, -0.40, -0.81%), France's Les Laboratoires Servier and other generic drugmakers face antitrust investigations by the European Union into whether an agreement between the companies hindered the entrance of a generic cardiovascular drug on to the market. The probes come after raids at the companies in November, the European Commission said Wednesday.
The Economy
Crude oil inventories for the week ending July 3 are scheduled to be released by the Energy Department Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Inventories fell by 3.66 million barrels in the week ending June 26 but remained above the upper limit of the average range for this point in the year.
The consumer credit report for May is scheduled to be released by the Federal Reserve Wednesday at 3 p.m. Consumer debt is expected to have decreased by $8.8 billion after falling $15.7 billion in April.