Russell 2000 set to increase

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are higher and the small-cap index will probably open in the green on news of strong earnings.

The bulls are poised this morning following news of better-than-expected earnings from the tech sector.

Search engine Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) got the ball rolling after the close on Tuesday when the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company reported third-quarter net income that outpaced Wall Street’s projections.

This morning Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) also beat analysts’ third-quarter forecasts, while United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) announced that its net income increased 20% due to strong demand across the board and revenue rose 14%. Wall Street was expecting more modest gains.

However, holding the bulls down is news that September U.S. housing starts fell to the lowest rate in 14 years.

The Census Bureau reported that builders broke ground on 1.191 million units at an annualized pace in September, well below the 1.285 million units expected by economists. Housing starts were an upwardly revised 1.327 million in August.

In other economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported that the consumer price index, the main measure of inflation, grew 0.3% in September, following a fall of 0.1% in August. Economists were expecting a slightly lower reading of 0.2%. Core inflation, which excludes the cost of food and energy, was 0.2%, in line with economists’ forecast.

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